Arthur Quinn and Hell's Keeper (27 page)

‘That's not true,' said Arthur. ‘It wasn't just me. It was all of you. I couldn't have stopped Loki without you.'

‘Now, Arthur,' said Mrs Barry, ‘there's no need to be humble.'

‘I'm not being humble,' he said. ‘It's the truth. We stopped a god, we saved the world, but we did it together.' A few nods and smiles went round the kitchen. ‘Now, let's have some cake!'

Another cheer.

The party went on into the evening and still Arthur hadn't had a chance to talk to Ash, Max, Ellie and Ex alone. Eventually, when the adults (and not-quite adults Stace and Eirik) were settling down to some coffee in the kitchen, Arthur and his friends sat on the porch steps and breathed a united sigh of relief. The sun was going down now, casting the estate into a fiery red.

‘So …' Ash started, staring meaningfully at Arthur.

He proceeded to tell them all that had happened in Asgard and how he'd finally managed to trick Loki.

‘The well is bottomless,' he finished. ‘The rock and the ribbon will just keep dragging him down forever. He'll never find a way out.'

‘That's perfect,' Ellie mused. ‘He's trapped for all time.'

‘So the Norns really did help you then?' asked Ash.

‘Yeah. Back in the throne room, I figured out that they must have been sending me the dreams all along. And I guess they gave the world the dream about Hel to try and warn everyone about what was coming. But they were helping us long before then, centuries before.'

‘How do you mean?'

‘The Norns helped Fenrir escape from Asgard. I'd always wondered why, but I think I worked it out. When Fenrir was in Asgard, he really was a monster. But when he got to our world, he saw the good that mankind can do, so he actually became more human. Because of that, he hid Hel and then set my mum free.'

‘If he'd never done that,' piped up Max, ‘you'd never have been born!'

‘And you were the only one who could stop Hel,' added Ellie.

‘Exactly. The Norns sent Fenrir to our world to become more human. And I reminded my mother of her own humanity.'

‘So even back then the Norns knew what was going to happen!' Ash exclaimed.

‘They know everything. Speaking of Fenrir, whatever happened to him after the battlefield?'

‘He phoned us the day after we woke up,' said Ash. ‘He and Drysi woke up the same way, on his boat at the docks. They're happy now. She's accepted who she is. Now that they're free from the threat of Loki, they're going to travel the world together.'

‘That's great!'

‘When the Vikings woke up, most of them wanted to go back to Scandinavia,' explained Ellie. ‘So Fenrir's offered to take them a few at a time.'

‘I can't believe they're
actually
all alive!'

‘Yeah. All of them,' said Ash. ‘They look normal and they can talk now too. A couple of them have gotten jobs in the Viking Experience, believe it or not, as actors!'

‘They're surprisingly chatty when you get to know them,' added Ex, which was the most he'd said all day.

‘They still don't know much English but they're working on it,' said Ellie.

‘So everything's as it should be,' said Arthur in wonderment.

‘Everything,' agreed Ash. ‘Except that.' She pointed at the eye-patch.

His fingers went straight to it.

‘Actually, I quite like it,' he told them. ‘It reminds me of what we went through.'

‘A souvenir,' suggested Ellie.

‘A battle scar,' corrected Arthur.

She laughed and looked at her watch. ‘Oh. Is that the time?' She turned to her brother. ‘We'd better be off.'

‘So soon?' asked Arthur.

‘Sorry. We've been staying at Ash's for the past few days but our parents are due back from their expedition soon. We need to pretend like we've had a boring few weeks. And we need to get back to home schooling.'

‘You're not going to stay in Belmont?' Ash asked.

‘No. We only enrolled to investigate you, Arthur. Plus we actually live on the other side of the city. Anyway, we like home school. It gives us more freedom for our … uh … extracurricular activities.' She winked at them and got to her feet.

Ellie put her hand out to Arthur but he shrugged it aside in place of a hug. Ex gave him a remarkably tender embrace when it was his turn.

‘It's been great getting to know you, Arthur. And you, Ash. And Max,' said Ellie.

‘Likewise,' said Arthur. ‘Really, really great. But this isn't goodbye. You'll keep in touch and come visit us, right?'

‘Of course we will.'

‘Stay out of trouble,' said Ash.

‘We can't make any promises,' laughed Ellie. ‘You know that, Ash.'

They watched as the Lavender siblings walked across the green, around the corner and out of sight. As soon as they were gone, Max whipped his head around to Arthur.

‘Wanna play some football?'

‘Sure,' Arthur replied, laughing. ‘Why don't you go get the ball!'

Max ran off as quickly as he could in the direction of his house in case Arthur changed his mind.

The trees of the Phoenix Park were black husks against the red-streaked evening sky. Families were walking dogs, couples were strolling hand in hand and joggers were pounding the footpaths. And none of them knew of the great deeds that one boy and his friends had carried out there in another time and another place.

A doe lapped from a lake in the northernmost half of the park. Something flashed before her eyes in the water, something dark and long and quick. But it didn't startle her. She sensed that it was no danger. And it wasn't.

The water snake that was once the World Serpent flitted through the water. It was home now and it was happy.

The girl watched the sun be swallowed up by the North Sea. It was cold here – it was always cold – and her breaths puffed white in front of her face. But she didn't mind the cold. After the cold came the warmth, and that she liked. She would go inside shortly, into the cramped cabin with the Vikings, and have some of the hot chocolate that Bjorn so loved to make.

Somebody lent over and laid a blanket across her knees. Drysi looked behind her up into her father's dark eyes.

‘It's beautiful, isn't it?' she said, indicating the sunset.

‘It is,' said Fenrir, laying one hand on her shoulder. ‘It really is.'

The man who was once the Fenris Wolf smiled to himself. He was home now and he was happy.

Chatter continued in the kitchen but Rhona barely listened to it any more. She looked at Joe, at the way his eyes shone when he talked, at his hands – calloused from years of guitar playing – at the little smile that he kept only for her when no one was looking.

She looked through the open door at her son and his friend on the porch. They were hardly moving and the setting sun cast them in a bronze light that put her in mind of statues.

The mother who was once Hell's Keeper refilled her mug of coffee. She was home now and she was happy.

When they heard Max burst through the Barrys' front door, Arthur smiled and turned to Ash. They looked at each other in silence. There was so much left unsaid between them and Arthur felt awkward. He couldn't explain it. He'd always felt so comfortable around her but now there was a nervous lump in his chest.

‘Ash,' he said.

‘Arthur,' she said.

‘I like you.'

They said it together and laughed together.

Their hands met on the step. Arthur looked at the golden sky above them.

‘It was a perfect day,' he muttered.

Ash leaned forward and kissed him once on the cheek.

‘Now it is,' she said.

Loki falls.

That is his existence now. Falling.

His rage is so hot, so vicious that it could almost boil the water he falls through.

Falling. Constantly falling. The perfect prison.

Except for one thing. He is falling through the Well of Urd. The place where all knowledge that was, is and will be goes. And Loki … well … Loki is soaking it up. Loki is learning. As he falls.

And one day Loki hopes that he will learn that one, single, beautiful piece of information that tells him how to escape from the perfect prison.

One day.