Zak Turner - A Twist In Time (37 page)

“Five past four?  Eh?  There must be summat up wi’ that clock, it can’t still be just after four!”

“There’s another one on the back wall,” answered Zak stifling a snigger.

Steven swung round and saw that clock also said five past four.  He glanced at Zak and Tallion, and saw their falsely innocent expressions and immediately knew that he’d been set-up, but he couldn’t see how.

“Alright, what did yer do?  I can tell ye’ve done summat to trick me although I can’t fer t’ life-of-me work out what!”

“Yer need to keep it secret Steven alright, but we just travelled through time!”

“We did what?!”

“We just went back in time.  Or more precisely, time waited for us while we were reading in the tower!”

It took a bit of explaining, and another minute of careful thought before the puzzled young farmer got his head round it, but when he did, he was as amazed as Zak had been.  He then remembered the couple of days he’d spent in the castle after Tallion had jumped in front of him to save him from the Libra Mortis.  Sir Philip’s comments about travelling in time came back into his mind. 

A few more pennies dropped, and he suddenly realised that the room they’d just been in was the same room that they’d used back then with Tallion! 

Zak and Tallion followed his tumble of thoughts, impressed by the sudden logic that their friend was applying to the situation.

“You gits!” he suddenly laughed out loud.  “You absolute slimy gits!  I don’t know why I think it’s funny, and I swear one of these days I’m gonna work out how to use this ruddy wand and turn you both into toads!”

After a bit of good natured banter, and assuring Steven that he could use the room to do his homework whenever he needed to, they settled down to wait for Barty and the start of their Alchemy lesson.

* * *

“Right boys.  Can you clearly remember the inside of the cellar room at Kirkstall Abbey?  Because that’s where you need to port to in about an hour,” advised Barty on Sunday afternoon. 

Zak had gone back to the castle via the wardrobe portal after his Sunday lunch and saying goodbye to his parents for the week.  The boys were now having a quick porting refresher course with their tutor, having spent most of Saturday morning learning how to do it.  Tallion was feeling much more confident having re-read the porting book that he’d found in Tai Tuie’s Tomb.

He’d also mastered accompanied porting by enlisting his brother’s help that morning!  They had supposedly gone for a walk together to ‘climb trees’, but had actually spent half an hour porting around the woods in short hops until Tallion was sure that he’d got the hang of it.  He needed to know how to guide someone else otherwise the plan to take Steven to the castle would never work!

“A final practise then,” announced Barty.  “I want you both to port to the courtyard.  Whatever you do though, don’t try porting outside the castle boundaries because it’s blocked both ways by the protective wards.  You’ll always be able to port around inside the castle though.”

Tallion’s heart missed a beat! 

“What happens if you try to port past the boundary?” he asked as innocently as he could.

“You crash into the wards.  If you’re good enough you’ll understand what’s happened and you’ll be able to change direction to go back where you came from, which is very difficult.  If you’re not good enough, then you just materialise at the boundary.  In the case of Lofthouse Castle, you’ll then be trapped and unable to move physically or magically, and Sir Philip will need to come and release you.”

Tallion nodded and grinned.  “Okay, just thought I’d ask.  Are the boundaries the castle walls then?”

“You need to check with your father Tallion.  I would imagine so, but I’m not certain.  Right, you were both porting fine yesterday morning by the end of the lesson, so let’s see if you’ve remembered how to do it.  Zak, you go first, to just outside the broom store please.”

Zak nodded and closed his eyes to concentrate for a moment, and then said the incantation aloud as he thought clearly about his destination and
imagined
the arm movement required to port, rather than actually making the movement.

“Profectus!”

There was a WHOOSH as the uncomfortable squashing sensation enveloped him, and then he was almost instantly standing on the grass in the courtyard outside the broom store!  He grinned to himself, amazed that he could do this already.  Bella Middleham had told him months before that they’d probably not learn how to do it until fourth or fifth year because it was a restricted spell if you were under age.

WHOOSH!

Tallion arrived right next to him making him jump!

“Blimey mate!  That was a bit close!”

“Barty made me do it on purpose.  My destination was simply standing about a foot away from your right shoulder.  He said it was safer to do that than porting to the broom store, so that I didn’t land on top of you!”

WHOOSH!

“Well done Tallion, you must have got that just about right.  How close was he Zak?”

“Almost touching me Barty!”

“Okay, that tends to happen when you port directly to a person for the first time.  We’ll practise a few more times round the courtyard just to get the hang of it, and gauge the distance properly.  Zak, port to my left side, about a foot away from me, in five seconds.”

WHOOSH!

Barty disappeared, and reappeared almost instantly at the other side of the courtyard.  Zak counted to five and then ported after him having got a picture in his mind of standing next to his tutor.

WHOOSH!

He nearly overbalanced as he arrived because he was facing back across the courtyard which was quite disorientating.  He
was
standing right next to Barty’s left shoulder though.

“Perfect.  Absolutely spot on Zak.  Do the same back to Tallion now, but never be tempted to go any closer than a foot away.  If you end up hitting him you’ll certainly both be injured, and you might end up merging your bodies, which is very difficult to sort out!  Off you go then.”

WHOOSH!

Zak found himself next to Tallion again, and grinned at his soul mate.

This is brilliant! 

I know, but I don’t understand why they’re teaching us and letting us do it.  Mother always said you need a licence to port under age because it’s a restricted spell, so someone must have arranged that too! 

It’s only possible because we’re both far too powerful for our own good! 

Don’t remind me about that, I keep trying to forget! 

I think they’re teaching us because it’s a good defence if we’re attacked.  We can just port away somewhere instead of having to fight.  Father even mentioned that during our first ever defence lesson.  ‘There’s no shame in walking away from a fight you can’t win,’ or something like that.

WHOOSH!

Barty arrived in front of them, facing them, with a smile on his face.

“I wish I’d been allowed to port at your age, but I know I’d never have been able to do it.  The other students will be very jealous, so if I was you, I’d not do it in front of anyone.  However, you should know that quite a lot of parents teach their children how to port early, but getting a licence under age is not common.  You two
are
licensed, so you’re free to use it.”

“Now, remember the restrictions and dangers we discussed yesterday.  You won’t be able to port directly into the vast majority of magical buildings so don’t try, and be polite.  Better to port a few hundred yards away from your destination and spend a minute walking the rest of the way.  Whatever you do don’t appear next to someone who isn’t expecting it, otherwise you’ll probably get hexed!”   

“Right, follow me round the courtyard at ten second intervals with your eyes closed until you either get too scared, or I tell you to stop.  Zak to my left and Tallion to my right.”

The boys shut their eyes and heard Barty port away somewhere.  Keeping their eyes tightly closed, they spent a couple of minutes counting to ten every time he ported away before they ported after him.  Judging from the sounds they heard, they had been near the lake, in the woods, inside the castle, on the castle roof, maybe at the top of the LookOut tower, and almost certainly in the castle kitchens.  The smell of cooking gave that one away!

“Okay, you can open your eyes.  I’m now going back to the duelling classroom, and in five seconds I want you to come to me, standing side by side, facing me, three feet in front of me.  That should be a nice challenge!”

WHOOSH!

Zak, let me take you.  Accompanied porting.  I practised it with Bjarne this morning while you were playing football so we can take Steven to Mhonarr.  Barty will be a bit surprised!

Okay.  How do we do it?  Stack hands?

Yep, just like with Mother and Father.  You don’t need to do anything else.

Zak grinned at his soul mate.

You think of everything!

No, I just remember the things you forget.  You think of the things I never even consider!

Come on then, get on with it!

“Profectus!” 

WHOOSH!

Tallion put a lot more power into it than when he was porting by himself, and sure enough, just like with Bjarne, he felt his hand magically lock on to Zak’s and drag him through whatever mystical link he’d created to the duelling classroom.

“Woh!  Who taught you how to do that Tallion?!” asked Barty in surprise when the two boys appeared with stacked hands.

“I read about it in a book from the library, and decided to give it a go.”

“Well, I’m both impressed and shocked!  Accompanied porting is not something people usually learn from a book, and it’s certainly not something they ‘have-a-go-at’ using other people!  Umm, I was twenty two and went through a training course before I even dared to try taking someone with me.”

“Oh.  Sorry.  Is it dangerous then?”

Barty rolled his eyes!  “Well, as we discussed yesterday, the risk with any porting is that you don’t concentrate properly and leave part of yourself behind.  With accompanied porting, there’s a much greater risk because you have to project your concentration onto the other person otherwise you might leave part of them behind.  That’s usually difficult!” 

Their tutor paused, and then his face suddenly registered understanding.

“Ahh!  For you two though, that’s probably a lot easier because of your magical bond!  From what I see, that’s really strong now isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s very strong, and we both appreciate it very much,” replied Zak as he glanced at Tallion with a smile. 

“We more or less live each other’s lives now Barty, feeling each other’s emotions, making each other’s decisions, anticipating each other’s needs, even feeling each other’s aches and pains!”

“I can even tell when Tallion needs to go to the loo,” added Zak with a smirk. 

“We can’t use each other’s eyes or ears yet though,” added his companion, “but I expect that will come, sooner or later!”

Barty had a twinkle in his eye as he raised his eyebrows and said, “Okay, rather you than me!”

“Barty, erm, I think I should tell you that I practised the accompanied porting with Bjarne this morning.  I’m a bit worried that maybe something went wrong which we didn’t notice?”

Barty’s face revealed his shock, and then he closed his eyes and shook his head as he sighed. 

“You guys are unbelievable!  Thanks for telling me Tallion, I’ll go and check him over to make sure he’s okay, but I’m sure he’ll be fine.  He’d have been in pain if something major had gone wrong!  Please
ask
in future though, before doing experiments; particularly ones that involve people, okay?  The risks are just too high!”

24.  Welcome Back!

The porting lesson with Barty finished at two fifteen, and the boys then ported back to Tallion’s room together.

“I could get addicted to this!  It’s much easier than walking everywhere.”

“You’ll get lazy and fat, and I don’t want a fat soul mate thanks!”

“Ha!  You don’t need to worry about that Mr Skinny, I need to keep fit for football!  It was hard work getting it all back after I tore that muscle, and I’m not going to let it all go again!”

“I still feel guilty about that.  Sorry!”

“It wasn't
your
fault!  It was my fault for losing my temper!”

“You wouldn’t have lost your temper if I hadn’t cheated though.”

“And then we might never have become friends,” both boys said in unison, finishing with a grin.

“Okay, so how are we going to sort out Steven?  We can’t exactly sneak off early now because of the wards round the castle.  It’s a good job Barty mentioned it!”

“Well, we probably can, but we’ll need to do it from the portal room.  I expect that’s the only place open for porting in and out of the castle.”

“You think it’ll work?”

“Yeah, but I’m a bit worried that we might get caught because of the timing.”

Zak wrinkled his nose as he thought carefully.

“Maybe we should just tell father?  I bet they’ll let Steven visit with us!”

“Then it’ll be all official, and we won’t get chance to show him round ourselves, and it won’t be an adventure!”

“You’ve changed so much it’s unbelievable!”

“You don’t like it?”

“I
do
like it, but maybe you don’t like being me?”

“I love being you, but do you like being me?  I could just as easily say ‘you’ve changed so much’!  Two months ago you’d never have batted an eyelid about an adventure like this!”

“That was Steven’s influence on me!”

Tallion raise a sceptical eyebrow and Zak grinned, “… a bit!”  His soul mate nodded knowingly.

“Okay, maybe just one of us should go and take Steven then?  It’ll need to be you because I’ve no idea how to lead accompanied porting.”

“Right.  I’ll meet him at the farm as we agreed, and take him straight to the cellar at Kirkstall Abbey.  If the portal’s open then I’ll take him through and leave him with Sartrina.  If not, I’ll leave him outside the cellar as planned and we’ll take him in together at three o’clock.  Either way I should be back within five minutes.  If someone else comes into the portal room here in the castle while I’m away, then you need to telepath me or something and tell me when it’s safe to come back in.”

“You’ll need to be a lot closer than Kirkstall Abbey for that to work!”

Suddenly Zak heard an avalanche of thoughts from his companion that was so rapid and jumbled up he couldn’t follow them properly!

“Zak!  We’re stupid!  There’s a really easy way to do this from right here in our rooms!  Why on earth didn’t we think of this before!  I’ll just port to the main gates, walk through them, and then I’ll already be outside the wards and can port to wherever I like!”

“Doh!” said Zak, slapping his forehead.  “Glad you thought of it.  Right, let’s do that then, much less risky than using the portal room.  You don’t suppose the wards keep track of us going in and out do you?”

Tallion frowned.

“Yeah, I think they do actually.  Father knew all about us going to the post office to collect Steven, remember?  The first time he came to the castle?”

“Yeah, I remember!  Well, if only
you
go out and I stay in then maybe it might not seem too suspicious?”

“No option anyway.”

Tallion grinned an infectious grin which made Zak push his worries to the back of his mind.  The two boys spent the next few minutes making sure that they had everything ready for both the unofficial trip and the official trip to the school!

* * *

“Ready Steven?” muttered Tallion to his friend as they stood in an empty sheep shed at Nether Bank Farm.

“Aye,” said the grinning wizard, his eye’s sparkling with mischief.

“Hold out yer hand then, take a deep breath, three, two, one, Profectus!”

WHOOSH!

Steven had never ported anywhere before, and the sensation of being squished and pummelled, and almost suffocated, was not remotely pleasant.  By the time they got to Kirkstall Abbey less than ten seconds later, he was disorientated and a bit green, and convinced that he’d almost died!

“Is it supposed to feel like that?” he asked after a few seconds in an unsteady voice.

“Yes, sorry.  Maybe we should have done a short test run first.  Are you okay?”

“Mebe we should!  Give us a minute till me ‘ead stops spinning…”

“I’ll see if the portal’s open.  Watch carefully where I walk through the wall just in case I can’t get back again.  If I’m not back in one minute, then just walk quickly at the wall and join me on the other side.  You need to go fast though, don’t be hesitant alright?”

“Alright.  Blimey, I never realised what I were letting meself in for!”

Tallion grinned at his friend.  “I’ll be back in a sec, stay here.”

Tallion walked quickly and confidently at the wall where the invisible portal was positioned, and sure enough, he felt the powerful stretching sensation drag him through to Mhonarr Castle.  As the grand portal room appeared in front of him, he found himself smiling and felt his spirits lift.  It
was
good to be back again!

Even better, the room was deserted, apart from Sartrina, who was standing opposite the Kirkstall fireplace leaning back against the handrail round the stairs, and looking for all-the-world as though she
wasn't
waiting for anything, but was just admiring the architecture!

“Hiya!” grinned Tallion shyly to his once ‘almost’ girlfriend.  “I’ve got a present for you!  I just needed to check that the portal was open first before I brought him through.  Will you be able to keep him hidden until we come through ‘officially’ at three o’clock?”

Sartrina felt a funny sensation in her stomach as Tallion spoke, and realised that it was the first time they’d had a sensible conversation since her dad died!

“Hi Tallion, yes, no problem.  Thanks for doing this for us…”

The blond wizard could hear Sartrina’s tumbling thoughts, and smiled reassuringly.

“That’s okay, and don’t worry about it.  I’m happy for both of you.  You’ll need to watch him though, he’s a right mischief!”

“That’s why I like him!”

“I don’t envy you telling your mum!  Sorry, but…  Well, you know what I mean.”

“I know.  I’m hoping to avoid it until Christmas.”

“Okay.  I’d better go back and send him through then, see you later!”

Tallion turned back into the fireplace and walked quickly at the back wall hoping that the portal was open both ways, which to his great relief it was!  When he got into the cellar he found Steven glancing nervously at his watch.

“Blimey, what kept yer!  I thought you must have got trapped on the other side an’ I was just psyching meself up to try and get through after yeh!”

“I was saying hi to Sartrina.  She’s waiting for you, so come on!  Just walk straight at the wall between the two torches, in fact you should almost jog through it.  I’ll not come back through so tell Sartrina we’ll see her later on.”

“No worries mate, see you soon.”

Steven took a deep breath and set off at a trot towards the wall.  Tallion held his breath half-expecting his friend to bounce off the wall, but he just went straight through it without any problem.

“Enjoy!” grinned the future nineteenth Baronet Middleham, and quickly closed his eyes, porting straight back to Lofthouse Castle gates.

* * *

Steven might have been moving smartly, but the sensation of being stretched out over several hundred miles as he went through the portal was still very real, and very uncomfortable.  He stumbled a little as he burst into the Mhonarr Castle portal room, and almost fell into the arms of his girlfriend.  Sartrina had moved closer to the fireplace and quickly grabbed him to steady him.

“Flippin heck!  I can’t say I much like all this magical travellin’ about.  Very uncomfortable!  Mind you, being met by you makes up fer it!  Hiya gorgeous!”

Sartrina’s heart was pounding as Steven arrived, and her mind was racing, wondering what to say, but she needn’t have worried.  Her loquacious boyfriend would never be stuck for words, and it already felt as though they’d never been apart.

“Hi handsome.  Welcome to Mhonarr Castle!”

“Thanks.  Woh!  What a fabulous room!  I never thought I’d be meeting you anywhere as posh as this.”

“Do you like it?  This is nothing.  Wait ‘til you see the entrance hall and the banqueting room, and the castle walls!  Come on, we need to get you out of sight somewhere until the boys come through at three.”

“Is there anywhere we can be private?  I’d like a few minutes alone with me girlfriend.”

“She’d like a few minutes alone with her boyfriend too, and yes there is.  It’s not very romantic, but it’s very safe!  Follow me.”

The two eleven-year-olds set off hand in hand down the intertwined spiral staircases to the grand entrance hall below, with Steven staring wide-eyed at the magnificence of it all.

* * *

Orion Trell looked up from his crystal ball with a smile as the image of two young people in the portal room faded away.  He’d been to Netherdale secretly a few times to check up on Steven Robson, and liked everything he saw about the happy-go-lucky farmer’s son.  Having the nerve to be smuggled into Mhonarr Castle though was something else indeed, courageous bordering on reckless, but entirely in keeping with the boy’s character!  It bode well for Zak and Tallion to have
this
boy numbered amongst their friends.

He couldn’t of course let what was happening pass by uncorrected, but much good would come out of it, and Steven was going to find himself with a lot more on his plate at dinner time than just a meal!  By the time he got back to his beloved farm in the dale, his life was going to look very different indeed!

He’d have to reprimand Zak and Tallion too, together with Miss Whitestone, for breaking the rules and taking things into their own hands, but not too harshly.  Their adventurous spirits needed to be nurtured, not neutralised, channelled and controlled, not allowed to run wild as they were currently in danger of doing!

“Professor McCathie,” he said, as he waved his hand over the crystal ball on his desk.  “When you have a minute can you organise a special feast tonight.  Robes are not required, but I would like everyone to be present for the feast at six p.m. instead of wandering in when they feel like it any time after five thirty.”

“Of course Orion, but why the formality, and why the feast?”

“We will have a guest in the castle this evening to whom we need to give a welcome, and show hospitality.”

“I trust it’s someone important then?” asked the deputy head, fishing for information.

“Yes indeed, one of the most important visitors we’ll have all year!  That is all.”

Cleo McCathie stared at the crystal ball on her desk as the headmaster’s image faded away and rolled her eyes.  She actually got on very well with Orion Trell, but sometimes he could be downright infuriating!

* * *

Tallion got back in to Lofthouse Castle without any difficulty, and went down to the portal room with Zak at ten to three.  His mother was already waiting there with a couple of small bags.

“Your Moncero Balayage robes, and a few extra bits and pieces for next week,” she said in response to their questioning looks.

“Thanks Mother,” said Zak with a smile.

“No getting into mischief please, boys, you’re not just there in your own right, you both represent the Middleham family while you’re at school, and you need to behave accordingly.  However, Mhonarr Castle doesn’t have to be boring, it certainly wasn't for me, so make sure you enjoy yourselves too!”

“I agree with that, have a good time,” said Sir Philip as he joined them to say goodbye.  “Barty says you’ve become a bit of a pro at porting Tallion, and even managed to guide Zak during an accompanied port earlier on.  Well done!  That’s something to be very proud of, for an eleven-year-old.”

The boys glanced round to see Barty entering the room and he winked surreptitiously at them.  He clearly hadn’t said anything to Sir Philip about the practise session with Bjarne!

“I’m having a week off boys, so don’t you dare come back early by getting expelled or something.  I’m going to see my brother in Africa, and you know what?” he asked reaching in to his pocket and pulling out a passport, “I’m going by plane, not by magic!  Much more comfortable, and much quicker.  Porting in short hops takes days to get there, and the only other options of a broom stick or magic carpet are far too uncomfortable!”

“Is that a
real
passport Barty?” asked Tallion, who was rather proud of being the first Middleham ever to have both a birth certificate and a passport.