Beneath (17 page)

Jess found it hard to believe he could really do this, but he sounded confident.

“Well, get on and change then,” Freya commanded him.

Finn grew still as he had done when Jess had watched him change before. He closed his eyes and let his breath go…

… and the dark horse was there.

“We’re never all going to fit,” said Magnus.

The horse moved across to a boulder to make it easier for them to mount. Freya climbed up first, then Jess behind her. Magnus looked at them doubtfully.

“This isn’t going to work.”

“Just climb up, Magnus,” Jess urged him, “And we’ll soon see.”

A few seconds later, Magnus was behind her, his hands on her waist.

“This shouldn’t be possible,” he muttered, and Jess couldn’t help but laugh.

Finn tossed his head and moved off.

As long as she lived, Jess remembered that ride. Finn moved at a smooth pace across heather moor and meadowland, through patches of woodland and across streams. Although it was too dark to see much, Jess could smell the difference between the landscapes, sense it in the way Finn ran. Freya’s hair blew in Jess’s face, and Magnus’s arms were around her waist. There was no need to hold on; it would have been impossible to fall off. She remembered the sensation of almost becoming part of the horse from her other brief rides.

The stars seemed to stream past them. Once or twice Freya turned to Jess with a delighted smile. When Jess twisted to look at Magnus, there was an expression of baffled wonder on
his face.

Dawn streaked the sky, turning the clouds shell-pink and apple-green before Finn slowed and came to a halt. Magnus, Jess and Freya slid down from his back and watched as the horse became Finn again.

He looked at Magnus and raised his eyebrows.

“I apologise,” said Magnus. “That was…”

“Incredible,” supplied Freya.

Finn turned to Jess and for a second, their gazes caught. She smiled at him.

“Amazing,” she said. “And much better without wolves chasing us.”

She realised just too late that it was the wrong thing to say, as she saw Magnus’s expression change, and Finn’s in turn grow serious.

“If we all walk for a bit just now, I can carry you again in a while,” he said.

They walked into the rising sun, each wrapped in their own thoughts. Broad swathes of grassland stretched ahead of them, utterly empty, moving like a sea as the wind ruffled across it.

Finn called a halt and they sat down by a stream and watched the sun come properly up. Jess drank deeply, hoping the cold water would fill the empty place in her stomach. She couldn’t work out how long it must be since they’d last eaten.

“Aren’t there any towns nearby, Finn?” asked Freya. “We haven’t even passed another house. Where does everyone live?”

Finn sat up slowly.

“There aren’t many of us left around here. We never had towns – remember, when you’re not here we spend a lot of time in horse shape – and we won’t be passing any of the other houses the way we’re going. Not until we get to the gateway.”

“Don’t you get lonely?” Freya asked, frowning.

For a few seconds she didn’t think he would answer, then
he seemed to relent.

“Yes. Of course. It must have been so different here long ago, when there were lots of Nykur. I’ve never known what it was like to run with a big herd, to have lots of my own people around me.”

Jess’s heart went out to him, hearing how sad he sounded.

“Come on,” he said, getting up. “That’s enough of trailing along at human speed.”

They rode for another four hours or so, the grass flowing under Finn’s hooves, then the ground rising again until they crested a hill and he stopped. Before them was a bowl-shaped valley, cupping a small loch of intensely blue water. Beyond it the hills rose steeply again, tree-clad and wild. On the nearest side of the loch, small figures moved, horses and human, close to another Nykur house. Like Finn’s, it overhung the water and was a series of linked buildings, but it looked much older, the wood faded silvery pale on walls and roof.

Jess, Freya and Magnus climbed down, peering into the distance to try and make out more of the people beside the loch.

“At least there don’t seem to be any wolves around yet,” said Freya.

Changed back, Finn spoke.

“I doubt that’s good news.” He pointed at the loch. “That’s the gateway to Dundee. They must have gone through already. He took a deep breath, looking at the figures at the lochside. “My family, and the rest of the Nykur are down there. We’re in time to help.”

They stood looking down at the figures on the loch shore.

Jess turned to Finn. He had sounded nervous when he spoke; his face now was paler than usual.

“It’ll be all right. Remember what Rowan’s letter said. As soon as they see you, it’ll be all right.” She searched his eyes. “You should go down alone.”

Finn shook his head.

“No, let’s get it all over at once,” he said. “But don’t say anything until we see what sort of reception we get.”

They began the long, exposed walk down the hillside, Finn a little way in front. Jess counted the people and horses by the loch as she walked. Fifteen.

“When will the rest of the Nykur get here?” she asked, raising her voice so that Finn would hear her.

“The rest? Everyone’s here already,” he said, without looking round.

“Fifteen? That’s all of you?” Jess was shocked.

This time he stopped and turned.

“That’s all of us
now
. And two of the people down there are the boys who used to live in your world.”

“But there must be others,” Freya insisted.

Finn stared at the three of them.

“You really don’t understand, do you? These fifteen are the only people I have ever known in the Nykur world. There’s no one else for over a hundred miles. Now perhaps you realise why I came to your world so often.”

He turned and walked on without another word, leaving the others gaping in his wake.

Jess watched his straight back and started after him, her mind in a whirl.
Fifteen
. It was almost impossible to believe.
And these Nykur were living by some agreement that no one in her world even knew about, risking themselves to protect the unthinking populations of Kirriemuir and Dundee from these terrible wolves.

The Nykur by the loch had noticed them now. Activity had come to a halt and Jess felt their eyes on her and the others as they came down the hill. At that moment she was very tempted to turn and run back up the slope. Glancing at Freya and Magnus’s faces, she guessed that they felt the same.

One figure detached itself from the group of Nykur and began moving towards them: a girl, slim and dark haired. A few seconds later she broke into a run, and then so did Finn.

“It’s Rowan,” Freya breathed beside Jess, her face lighting up.

Finn and his sister reached each other and she threw her arms round him, sobbing. The others stopped, not wanting to intrude.

“Finn, Finn! I knew you would come back. I knew! I wished for it every night and every morning.” She drew back to look at him properly. “Did you find my letter?”

“How else would I have known to come here?” Finn said with a smile.

Rowan seemed to see the others properly for the first time.

“Freya?” she said uncertainly. “And you!” She looked at Jess. “Why have you brought them here, Finn?”

“I’ll explain later, Rowan. I have to talk to Mother and Father now.” He took a deep breath.

Rowan took his hand. “They want you back, Finn. Don’t forget that, whatever Mother says to you.” And, ignoring the others, she turned and pulled Finn towards the rest of the Nykur.

Jess, Freya and Magnus hung back in spite of what Finn had said before.

Finn stopped abruptly, bringing Rowan to a halt beside him, and waited as his parents walked forward. They stopped a
few paces away from him.

“I banished you,” said Gudrun, “And yet, you have returned.”

“And you have brought people from the Upper World,” added Euan.

“Why have you defied me?” asked Gudrun, her eyes fixed on Finn’s face.

“Because you are my family, and I am Nykur,” said Finn so softly she could only just hear him. “And because I love you, and I cannot bear to live alone in the Upper World.”

For perhaps ten seconds no one moved, then Gudrun threw her arms wide, and in a heartbeat Finn was embracing her. A second later the embrace included Euan and Rowan too.

Jess could see Gudrun speaking to Finn, but much too softly for her to make out the words. She saw him nod, his face buried in his mother’s shoulder. After a moment, Finn raised his head and swiped a hand across his eyes.

Gudrun’s gaze shifted to them and a frown appeared and deepened.

“Why have you brought
them
here, Finn? Surely there has been enough trouble already?”

“There has, but now I know why.” He looked at Jess, then back at his family. “The others will need to hear this too, later.” He took a breath.

“The people in the Upper World don’t know about the agreement. The men who made it were so ashamed that they had agreed to trade their children for their safety that they told no one. Humans now didn’t know anything about the Nykur or the wolves, or that we’ve been protecting them all these years.”

Gudrun, Euan and Rowan stared at Finn in astonishment. It was Euan who broke the silence.

“Is this true?”

Magnus answered.

“It’s true. We knew nothing about this, until a couple of days ago. Now a few people understand. And the wolves… Some of them came out of Roseroot Pool. Your son saved us
all from them.” He lapsed into silence.

“The barrier at the pool needed repairing,” Finn said to his mother. “I did what I could when we came through.”

For the first time, Gudrun spoke to them directly.

“You truly did not know? So when you came,” – she fixed her gaze on Jess, “to take Freya back, you all thought we were wicked creatures who stole your children for our own amusement?”

Jess swallowed. “Not exactly. No one except my grandmother even believed you were real.” She turned to Euan. “My grandmother was your cousin Ellen in the Upper World. Do you remember her?”

Euan shook his head slowly.

“She remembers you. She spent most of her life wondering what had really happened to you. It made her happy to find that you had a family.” She risked a smile and found it hesitantly returned.

“I brought them to our world so that Freya could remember properly what had happened to her,” Finn said to his family. “I thought I owed her that. Then I found Rowan’s letter. Magnus’s family live in Dundee. He wants to warn them, and this was the fastest way to get him there. I said I would take him through this gateway.”

His parents looked at each other and, after a pause, Gudrun spoke.

“We must ask the others. This is not a decision for us to make alone. It concerns
all
the Nykur. Rowan, find them some food while they wait.”

They were left alone with Rowan.

“Come on, I’ll get you something to eat.”

She led them towards the Nykur house that overhung the loch. As they got closer, Jess noticed signs of disrepair: missing shingles on the roof and cracked boards on the walls.

Inside there were signs that the place was being used as a makeshift camp by the Nykur who were human: bedrolls in
several of the rooms, traces of hasty repair here and there. Rowan led them into the kitchen, rummaged in a cupboard with a door hanging drunkenly from one hinge, and produced bread and apples.

It was a long time since they had last eaten. There was silence as they chewed. Rowan sat next to Finn, watching his every move as though he might suddenly disappear again.

Magnus turned impatiently to Finn.

“When can we go? What’s happening?”

“I don’t know. For now, you must be patient. We can’t do anything unless the others agree.”

When they finished eating, they went outside and watched from a distance as the discussions continued, until at last Gudrun waved them over.

The Nykur, all in human form now, waited silently, watching the strangers who had delivered such shocking news. They were all tall, long limbed and blue eyed, whatever colour their hair. Their silent regard was disconcerting.

Gudrun spoke without preamble, her voice tight.

“Finn, the clan has set you a test if you are to be accepted as Nykur again. There are almost two-hundred wolves massed on the other side of the gateway. You must draw them back here so we can destroy them. They have been waiting for this night before they attack the town.”

“Why?” Magnus interrupted.

“You have hunted your own wolves out of the hills round Dundee. The black wolves want vengeance. The full moon rises tonight. They will attack then.”

“What do I have to do? How do I get them back here?” asked Finn.

“What? Finn, no, you can’t do it,” Jess exclaimed.

“He must,” said Euan. “That is the test.”

“You can take the boy with you,” Gudrun said to Finn. “He can warn the town if he can get there. But your job is to take
this.” A black-haired man handed something to Gudrun. “This has taken us two days. We have poured all our power into it.”

She held up her hand. From a leather thong hung a stone about the size of a walnut, smooth and dully gleaming, dark as a piece of midnight sky, speckled with tiny crystalline points of light.

Finn took it, handling it carefully. His eyes widened and Jess watched as understanding dawned on his face.

“The full moon,” he said wonderingly.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Show them, Finn,” said his mother. “Show us all that you can release the power we have trapped here.”

Finn held the stone in his cupped hand and slowly, it began to glow. In the sky above them a pale light gleamed. They looked up at the full moon.

A mutter of approval ran through the Nykur as Finn opened his hand and the moon faded away.

“It will be brighter there,” one of them said.

“You must show the wolves
this
moon before the real moon rises in the Upper World,” said Gudrun. “You must use it as a lure to bring them back through the gateway and then we will seal it and destroy them.” Finn nodded, slipped the thong over his head and tucked the moonstone inside his tunic. Gudrun turned to Jess and Freya.

“You cannot go with them. Finn’s speed will be their only defence. You will stay here. Someone will take you back to your own world when this is over.”

There was no possibility of disagreeing with that voice. Jess and Freya kept silent.

“How soon can we leave?” asked Magnus.

“You should go as soon as possible. We cannot be sure what you will find on the other side.”

Rowan’s lower lip was trembling. It was clear she couldn’t bear the thought that she was losing Finn again when she’d only just got him back. He noticed her distress and gave her a
reassuring hug.

“I’ll hardly be gone for any time,” he said. “Don’t do anything too brave when the wolves come.” He leaned closer to her and whispered so only she could hear. “Look after Jess and Freya for me. Everyone else will be too busy.”

“All right,” said Rowan uncertainly.

“We’ll go now,” said Finn, turning to Magnus.

Magnus nodded grimly.

“Be careful, Magnus – you too, Finn,” Freya said, hugging each of them quickly, then stepping back so that Jess could do the same.

Jess found herself suddenly at a loss, overwhelmed by the feelings she had for both of them that she had only half admitted to herself.

She summoned a bracing smile and somehow managed to give first Finn and then Magnus a firm embrace and a friendly kiss.

“Give my love to your parents,” she said to Magnus and, to Finn, “You’d like his parents; they’re good people. If it’s possible to talk a wolf to death, Magnus’s mother will do it.”

And then they went, walking into the dense blue water, Magnus’s hand on Finn’s shoulder.

They were gone.

Magnus was swirled through blue water like a bubble. He held on to a breath until it became impossible not to take another, and found to his surprise that his head was not in water but in air, in darkness, his eyes shut.

He gasped a breath, then another, looking round. At first it seemed just as dark with his eyes open. Which way was the shore?

It dawned on him that he was standing, not floating, up to his shoulders in freezing water, and then that he shouldn’t be alone. Where was Finn?

Magnus was about to call out, then he thought about the
wolves, and kept silent instead. A few seconds later he heard a sound from the water behind him and saw Finn’s dripping head appear close by, coughing and spluttering.

Now that his eyes had adapted to the dark, Magnus made a move towards the shore, but Finn caught his arm and signed to him to wait. They stood together, listening intently. There was the
kee-vik
of a tawny owl close by, then silence.

“All right,” Finn breathed, stifling another cough, and they waded ashore.

“Where are we?” Magnus whispered, looking round. He’d thought they would arrive in Dundee itself, but all he could see were the dim shapes of broken ground and open country.

“Dundee’s about four miles that way. You’ll see the lights soon. Come on. We’ll have to walk for a bit, but I’ll change as soon as I can.”

Five minutes later they came round the shoulder of a hill and Magnus saw the scatter of lights from Dundee and knew where he was. Speeding up, he thought longingly of the warmth of his parents’ house. First things first, though; they had to get to the watchtower, convince the watchmen of the danger, and get them to alert the town.

Somewhere ahead of them, a wolf howled. Finn and Magnus stopped abruptly. The howl came again, and this time it was answered from behind them.

Magnus drew his knife. “Can you see anything?” Finn said softly.

They stood back to back, still listening.

“No,” Magnus replied. “Do you think they can smell us?”

“There’s no wind to speak of. It might just be coincidence,” Finn said.

The knife blade glimmered in Magnus’s hand. “What do you want to do?” he asked.

“Maybe they’ve gone. Let’s give it a minute.”

But just then there was another howl from ahead of them, and this time, answering wolf song from several throats. The
howls were behind them and off to one side now as well.

“Let’s move,” Magnus said. Finn nodded agreement, trying not to cough. “Are you all right?” Magnus asked.

“Yes, fine. I just swallowed some water as we came through. It’s not very clean, this close to Dundee.”

They moved more slowly now, listening every few steps, constantly looking round, but now the wolves were silent.