Deep Amber (19 page)

Albert came over and shook Simon's hand, and then smiled at Cat.

“Keep the amber safe,” he said. “And don't worry, you'll be safe enough here while we sort out Lord Ravenglass and his nasty chums.” Then he patted her on the back, nodded at Simon, and walked through the portal. Jem and Dora waved and walked after him.

The Druid looked across at Cat, and gave her a grin. “You know, the amber's gone to a much more deserving heir than me. I'll be back – and in the meantime, don't get into trouble, either of you. And
don't
say anything to your mother!”

He gave them a cheery wave, and disappeared
into the mist, and the mist immediately winked out of existence. There were just the two rose bushes, and gradually darkening twilight, and the long driveway leading out of the grounds.

“Well,” said Cat, after a moment. “I guess we'd better get home.”

They turned for the driveway and started walking slowly away from Sunset Court.

“So, is that it then?” said Simon, swinging the sword in its towel and bin bag as they emerged out onto the road. “Are we just supposed to wait for Uncle Lou to come back and get us when it's all safe?”

Cat raised her eyebrows at Simon.

“Why?” she said. “Do you have an alternative?”

He grinned.

“I might, as it happens,” he said. “When we were behind the sofa, Dora taught me how to make a portal spell. I didn't get it quite right – but I was watching Uncle Lou carefully just now. I reckon with a bit of practice I might be able to use the sword to get us to the kingdom. I don't see why we should be left out of it all!”

Cat laughed. “I thought you had something up your sleeve,” she said. “But if that doesn't work,
we might have another way in. Albert Jemmet said you can use the amber to get to any world you want to.”

“Really?” said Simon his eyes sparkling. “Did he explain how?”

“No,” said Cat. “But it seems to work just by telling it what you want. It should be quite simple.”

Simon thought about the Druid's words to them. “Stay here, and stay safe.” But then he thought about the dusty black figures of Mr Smith and Mr Jones, and Lord Ravenglass with his velvet and lace and his lazy drawl. They would be trying to find the remaining bits of amber, and it was clear that the simplest way to stop them was to get there first. That was what the Druid and Albert would be planning, and possibly Dora and Jem would be roped in to help. Simon was absolutely determined not to be left out.

He thought about all that had happened to them over the last few days – magic, and ghosts, and shining swords appearing from nowhere. The kingdom. His dad had known about the kingdom, he'd been there, he'd learnt to use his sword there. Simon could feel the sword, wrapped in its layers
of towel and bin bag, still gently humming with power, and he grinned. He could feel a bubble of excitement building inside him at the thought that this other world was part of who he was. There was no way he was going to sit around and wait till Uncle Lou came back to collect them.

When they finally got home, rather tired and full of plans, they found their mum sitting at the kitchen table, looking over some old manuscripts with a cup of coffee in her hand. She looked up and smiled at them, waving at the cooker behind her.

“Pasta in the saucepan, apple crumble in the oven – help yourselves,” she said, and then she pointed her pen at Simon sternly. “And when you've eaten, you can explain to me exactly what you did to the sofa, and my washing.”

Epilogue

The white stone walls of the palace were humming with the extreme displeasure of the queen's nephew and heir, Lord Ravenglass. Servants were scurrying back and forth, heads lowered, ready at a moment's notice to bow to the exact degree necessary for a third-level courtier, or a second-level nobleman, or even – Forest forbid – the exact forty-five degrees necessary to appease Lord Ravenglass himself.

Ollie Bowbuckle, fourth apprentice under-footman, was in the deepest part of the cellars, cowering behind a heavy wooden door. He had been sent down to fetch up a morsel of his Lordship's favourite oak-smoked vintage cheese. His Lordship's manservant had ordered it, in the hope that an array of tempting trifles would
distract Lord Ravenglass from his current pursuit of blasting the towers of the east wing with bolts of were-lightning. The damage to the gargoyles already looked like being the worst since Queen Igraine had refused to abdicate in her nephew's favour two years previously.

Ollie, a rather skinny, fair-haired lad of fourteen, had never been down to the under-cellars before, but he'd been the only one they could spare when the message came to the kitchens. Butterworth, the chief under-footman, had sent him down with strict instructions to get the cheese in double-quick time or he'd be on latrine duty for a week. And now Ollie was completely lost. He would have happily spent seven days scrubbing the palace sewers in exchange for being shown the way out.

He'd taken a wrong turn, he knew that now. Instead of the cheese pantry, he'd ended up in a warren of dark, damp passages, and behind every door was just another passage, or stone steps winding downwards, or an empty stone chamber. And then, halfway across one of the badly lit chambers, he'd walked into some kind of invisible wall. Beyond it there was a faint blue glow,
and what appeared to be the outline of a cave, but he could see very little else. Until he had backed away, and slipped on the dank stone floor, and cried out as he fell. All at once a dark shadow had stirred at the edge of the cave, and Ollie had seen that it was a man – gaunt, his skin pale and almost tinged blue, his eyes desperate.

“Who's there?” the man had called, in a rasping voice, peering towards where Ollie lay. He had moved forward then, slowly, and Ollie had realised with a shock that he had heavy silver chains on his legs and arms.

“Show yourself!” the man had cried, but Ollie, trembling, had eased himself backwards across the floor until he reached the sturdy oak door through which he'd entered. And that was when he heard the sound of footsteps coming down the narrow, winding stairs beyond the door. Ollie swallowed, and pressed himself into the shadows.

There were many secrets buried within the white walls of Queen Igraine's palace, and servants learned early on to keep their eyes on the job and their curiosity under check, or else they might just become one of those buried secrets themselves. Something told Ollie that he was in
a place where apprentice under-footmen were not expected to be, and it might be better not to be discovered there.

As he held his breath, the person who had been coming down the stairs walked into the chamber. Ollie nearly fainted from terror. The man who had emerged from the doorway, in a flash of white lace and dark curls, was the queen's nephew, Lord Ravenglass, and he was not in a good mood.

Lord Ravenglass stalked up to where Ollie had hit the invisible wall and snapped his fingers at the man in chains.

“Lost!” he said, his voice thick with anger. “Slipped through my fingers! I was
this
close!”

He held up his thumb and forefinger, almost touching. The man in chains looked up hungrily. His fair hair was lank and dirty, and he was painfully thin, but he somehow still had an air of being powerful, dangerous – like a caged animal.

“The amber?” he said, his blue eyes strangely bright.

“Yes, the amber,” said Lord Ravenglass irritably. “Almost in my grasp. And then it was taken from me by a slip of a girl – barely thirteen.
Albert Jemmet was there. Meddling as usual.”

Lord Ravenglass started pacing up and down in front of the invisible wall, his fingers twitching from rage, his eyes focused on the prisoner beyond. Now was Ollie's best chance to leave. Barely breathing, he started to ease himself around the door, as Lord Ravenglass was speaking.

“I did some digging when I came back. Irene Morgan, she said she was, the meddlesome old woman who owned it before. Which makes the girl who took it Catrin Arnold. She's got a brother – Simon. But they're under the Forest's protection now. I won't be able to get at them. Not till we've got more power.”

“Irene Morgan…” said the man in chains, slowly. It was as if he were tasting the name, savouring it. “And Catrin Arnold…”

Lord Ravenglass stopped, and raised his eyebrows. “You have an idea?”

The man stood up, grimacing with pain as he stretched his limbs.

“I think we can get Catrin and her brother to help us,” he said, and gave Lord Ravenglass a twisted smile. “The Forest can't protect them if they choose to come to us of their own accord.”

Lord Ravenglass frowned. “And why should they do that?”

As Ollie backed away into the passageway, the last thing he heard was the prisoner's reply.

“Because they'll come when you tell them you need the amber to release me. To release their father.”

Coming soon…

Simon and Cat are determined to find their way

to the kingdom – but it soon becomes more

dangerous than they could have imagined.

Meanwhile, the Druid is keeping secrets from

Dora and Jem. Should they try and follow him

to the mysterious Empire of Akkad, where

there might be dragons…?

Join the fearless foursome once more as they

race to track down the next piece of amber.

A TEMPLAR BOOK

First published in the UK in 2014 by Templar Publishing,

an imprint of The Templar Company Limited,

Deepdene Lodge, Deepdene Avenue, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 4AT, UK

www.templarco.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2014 by Templar Publishing

All rights reserved

Copyright © 2014 by C. J. Busby

Cover illustration by David Wyatt

The right of C. J. Busby to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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ISBN (ePub) 978-1-78370-033-2