Griffin of Darkwood (19 page)

“You own it,” said Mr. Barnaby. “I realized what had happened as soon as I got your letter. Your miserable aunt has been stealing your money. She used it to buy the castle! I blame myself for not depositing it directly in your trust account.”

“That’s okay,” said Will. He was too overjoyed to mind about anything. The castle was his! He was going to stay in Sparrowhawk with Emma and Thom.

He remembered the feeling when Emma slid her hand into his and he felt himself flush. It was something he wanted to think about more when he had time.

“And now we must attend to your aunt,” said Mr. Barnaby.

“Do we have to let her out?”

“Unfortunately, we do.”

Will found the big brass ring of keys in the little room that had belonged to the Cherrys. They took a while to unearth as everything was topsy-turvy – drawers pulled out, chairs tipped over. It was easy to see the Cherrys had left in a panic.

There were at least a hundred keys on the ring. Aunt Mauve shouted insults from inside the room while Will tried each key. On the ninety-sixth try, he was successful.

Aunt Mauve became more subdued when she sat at one end of the long dining-room table and faced Mr. Barnaby’s stern face.

“You should be ashamed of yourself!” began Mr. Barnaby.

“But…I…er...in my defense…”

“There is no defense!” thundered Mr. Barnaby. Will looked at him admiringly. He had no idea Mr. Barnaby had it in him.

Aunt Mauve turned pale.

“I think the best thing is to send you far away,” said Mr. Barnaby. “I’ve bought you tickets on a cruise. You must be
ready to leave Sparrowhawk on this afternoon’s bus.”

Aunt Mauve’s eyes popped open wide with delight. But after she had scurried off to pack, Mr. Barnaby winked at Will and Favian. “The cruise leaves for Antarctica in three days. The last time I checked, it was thirty degrees below zero!”

“Serves her right!” said Will. “Will I be able to stay in the castle by myself?”

“No,” said Mr. Barnaby. “Absolutely not. But I thought I might move in with you. Because of your mother’s book, my business has expanded. I’ll be needing lots of space.”

“There’s seventy-three rooms!” said Will with a grin.

“One of the first things we'll do,” said Favian, “is get rid of that GO AWAY on the door once and for all. Everyone wants you to stay now, Will.”

“There’s one thing I still don’t get," said Will. "How did the Cherrys know about the tapestries?”

“Purvis Sneed,” said Favian. “He was a member of the search party that looked for Hannah Linley forty-five years ago. He was a gardener here at the castle. When they carried Hannah back to the castle, she was babbling about the tapestries and the secret passage. Purvis must have heard her.”

“But how did he know the Cherrys?” asked Will.

“Something rang a bell when that detective Kate Winters said the Cherrys escaped from Stonewall Prison,”
said Favian. “Purvis Sneed spent some years in that prison for robbery. That’s where they must have met.”

“What will happen to them?”

“The Cherrys will be going back to prison for a long time. But I don’t imagine Purvis Sneed can be arrested for simply passing on information.”

Mr. Barnaby rifled through the papers on the table. In all the excitement, Will had forgotten about the tapestries. But now he said, “I need to see if the tapestries are still here. I’d like to go by myself.”

“Of course,” said Favian and Mr. Barnaby nodded.

Mr. Cherry had said that the earthquake had opened up the entrance to the keep. Will ran down a passageway that led to the courtyard. He raced across the courtyard and spotted a narrow opening where the rubble piled in front of the keep had shifted. He scrambled through the opening and came to two massive wooden doors that stood partly open.

He squeezed through the opening into the great hall. The three tapestries hung in their places! His heart beat faster. On the far wall, a fourth tapestry hung, sunlight from one of the narrow windows slanting across it. Trembling, he walked up to it.

The tapestry showed a magnificent griffin with a boy clinging to its back, soaring across a night sky that exploded with colour.

“The Griffin of Darkwood Escapes,” read Will. But that wasn’t what made his heart race. More words were woven around the edges of the tapestry – hundreds of words, the words he had written, transformed into gold thread as delicate as spiderwebs.

“Once upon a time there was a griffin and a boy who was a Moonstone…”

Will read every word.

“The End,” he said triumphantly.

And then he heard his mother, Adrienna Poppy, one last time.

“Towers and magic. Anything can happen in a castle like this, William Poppy. Anything.”

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank everyone at Coteau Books who worked so hard on this story, particularly my editor Kathryn Cole.

My daughter Meghan inspired me to write a fantasy. My sister Janet read many many drafts and her suggestions were invaluable. And as always, I would like to thank my husband Larry who gives me the time to write.

About the author

BECKY CITRA is the author of twenty books for young readers. Her books are frequently selected by the Canadian Children’s Book Center for their annual “Our Choice” guide to the best books published in Canada. Many have been nominated for local and national awards, including the Sheila Egoff Children’s Literature Prize, the Diamond Willow Award, and the Ontario Library Association Forest of Reading Red Cedar Award.

Becky has written two popular series as well – the “Ellie and Max” series which takes place in Upper Canada in the 1800’s and the Jeremy and the Enchanted Theater time travel series. She currently
lives in Bridge Lake, BC.