The Kuthun (11 page)

I feel a lump in my throat.
I can’t leave them
. There has to be a way to stop this curse. I’m the only one who can finish it. I push my food around on the plate, having suddenly lost my appetite.

The atmosphere starts to get busier and noisier as the night goes on, with more patrons coming and going. When we get to dessert my skin breaks out in goose bumps. I slowly peer around the room, making sure not to draw attention, trying to find out where the sensation is coming from.

Someone is watching me.

Phoebe is chatting away about science class yesterday, where she got in trouble for talking too much. No surprise there. As punishment, Mr. Short made her dissect a rat in front of everyone.

‘So anyway I was like, well if you want to make a spectacle out of me I’ll give you a show. So I used my “hack and whack” technique that saw the rat’s intestines and blood spray out across the lab bench. Seriously, E, it looked like a horror movie.’ She is waving her hands around, getting very animated, trying to explain to me that it wasn’t her fault. ‘If he just sent me out of the room instead of trying to make an example of me, then Dakota wouldn’t have vomited on Patrick, and Alex may not have fainted. I mean, how is that my fault?’ She takes another sip of her iced coffee. I keep searching the room. ‘Ellie, are you listening to me?’ she asks, annoyed that I’m not paying her enough attention.

Where is it coming from? My eyes scan the entire room. So much is happening that I can’t see through all the people. I can feel it though.

‘Of course I’m listening. You said that Mr. Short is evil and nobody appreciates your medical skills,’ I reply sarcastically, while trying to keep a straight face.

She squints her eyes, trying to figure out if I’m being sarcastic or not. She quickly decides I am being serious. ‘Yes! Exactly! Why didn’t they get that?’ she says while shaking her head and finishing off the last of my ice cream.

I chuckle lightly, trying to appear relaxed while knowing that someone was just spying on me from within the room.

A short while later we are grabbing our coats and things and heading out the door. We drop the Campbells home and reach our house a few minutes later.

I go about my usual night time routine consisting of homework, getting my uniform ready for school the next day, and attempting to tidy up my room with the distinct feeling that I could probably leave it for another time. I decide that reading
Lord of The Rings
and snuggling up into bed would be a much better idea when all of a sudden I drop to the floor, crying out in pain. My foot feels like someone has just shoved an iron poker through it.

I hear Uncle Jo running up the stairs. ‘Ellie, what’s wrong?’ He sees me holding onto my leg and quickly bends down trying to assess the damage. Aunt Lily has come up behind him, worry and fear creasing her face. ‘What is it?’ he asks.

‘I…I’m not sure,’ I stutter through the pain.

Magi! Something’s wrong with Magi
.

‘Magi!’ I shout. ‘Quick, help me up.’ I grab onto his arm and he supports me while I hop on one leg. ‘We need to get downstairs. Something’s happened to Magi.’

In one fell swoop he picks me up into his arms and all but runs down the stairs. ‘Out the back, quickly!’ I shout, tears forming in my eyes. I feel my magic stirring beneath the surface, like a bubbling cauldron of intense heat.

We reach the back door and I jump out of Uncle Jo’s arms, blocking out the pain. I take off at a run and head out into the night, not sure exactly where I am going but following my instincts. I turn towards the far eastern corner of the property and I sense Magi’s presence closer now.

I hear Uncle Jo’s voice behind me in the distance, but I don’t slow down. I am running fast. ‘Magi!’ I yell. ‘Magi!’ I hear a faint noise on the breeze. ‘Magi, where are you?’ I can’t bear to think of anything bad happening to her. I hear it again, a faint whimper coming from my right. I keep running in that direction and with the help of the moon I’m able to make out her black form on the ground. I run harder and reach her in seconds, falling down next to her. She isn’t moving.

‘Magi,’ I whisper through my tears. I pat her body and can feel her shallow breathing beneath my hand. ‘Mags, talk to me.’ I continue stroking her and she opens her eyes just a fraction but it’s enough to let me know she’s alive. I let out a sob. ‘It’s okay, girl. I’m here now.’

Uncle Jo catches up to me, panting heavily. His eyes continuously roam the night air, watching for any signs of impending danger.

‘Is she hurt?’ he asks quietly, taking in Magi’s still body.

‘She’s alive.’ I manage to get out. ‘We have to get her back to the house.’

He nods and gently lifts her up into his arms. She whimpers in pain, her head hanging loosely across his forearm. ‘Keep a watch out,’ he says, making me aware that we are completely exposed out here.

I suddenly remember who could be out here. My eyes scan the surrounding area as we walk back towards the house, the moon creating shadows that are playing out like a pantomime through the trees. Each step brings us closer to the house and to safety, but I don’t take my eyes off the tree line, expecting at any moment that someone or something is going to attack.

When we are close to the house I catch a flash of steel hurtling towards us. ‘Gantaha!’ I yell. A pearl-coloured electric force field appears around us, shielding us from the steel-tipped arrow. ‘Run!’ I yell. We take off sprinting back to the house, my powers waning with the strain it takes to hold the spell in place around us.

Aunt Lily is holding open the back door beckoning us to hurry with the frantic waving of her arm. We run through it and she slams the door shut behind us, just in time for my magic to shut down. She quickly locks the door and leans against in, her eyes wide with fear.

Uncle Jo carefully places Magi onto the table. She has lost consciousness but I can still feel her shallow breath. The pain I felt was in my right foot and instinctively I reach down to find that her right back paw is bloody. I lift it to see if there is any sign of a wound and on the inside I see a short, sharp object embedded into her skin. I gently pull it out causing Magi to whimper, but she doesn’t open her eyes.

Uncle Jo quickly grabs his rifle from the kitchen pantry and cocks it as he strides towards to the door.

Aunt Lily blocks his path. ‘No, Jo!’

‘Lil, move aside. That bastard isn’t getting away with that.’

‘Uncle Jo?’ The sound of my voice causes him to look at me. ‘He can’t get past the warding. We are safe for now,’ I assure him. ‘We need to help Magi.’ With shaky hands I pass him the dart-like object.

He closes his eyes for a second and then quickly glances back towards the door. Deciding to stay put, he puts the gun on the bench and grabs the tip out of my hand. He places it under his nose. ‘This has been poisoned.’

‘What! What do you mean poisoned?’ I ask.

‘I mean exactly what I said. Magi’s been poisoned.’ He takes another sniff. ‘It smells like some type of cyanide.’

‘Cyanide! What does that mean?’ I ask, barely able to contain my outrage.

‘It means that we need to get her to a vet soon or she could bleed out,’ he says concerned.

‘Could she die?’

‘Yes. Cyanide can prevent the blood from clotting, which means we need to reverse that as soon as possible.’

‘What do we do? If we go out again we are exposed and if we stay she could die.’
Think
,
Ellie!
‘Wait. There may be something in the book.’ I turn and run upstairs, grabbing The Book of Cole off the bed.

I race back down, plonking it onto the kitchen bench roughly, and as I open the book I notice that my hands are shaking.

I am madly flipping through the pages trying to find the healing spell that I’ve seen in here before. If I remember correctly it has the ability to reverse the effects of poisoning in the body by drawing out the toxins through the point of contact. ‘Come on, come on!’ I say through gritted teeth.
Please don’t let her die, please
. ‘Here!’ I scroll my fingers down the page titled Poison Extraction. ‘It says we need a poultice of some kind. Charcoal, lemon myrtle leaves, slippery elm and salt.’ My finger is poised on the page and I look up at Aunt Lily expectantly.

Startled she says, ‘What! Oh yes, right. Wait. What do we need again?’

I repeat the ingredients and she starts shuffling madly around the kitchen.

‘They’re in marked containers on the bottom shelf in the pantry,’ I shout. I know where they are because I’m the one who makes sure we always have herbal ingredients on hand, just in case I need them.

She finds them and hastily puts them on the counter. Her hands tremble as she undoes the lids.

I turn back to the spell. ‘Okay, now you need to mix them together making sure to knead it gently so it sticks to form a smooth paste.’ She does what I ask and passes the poultice to Uncle Jo.

‘Right. Gently apply the poultice to the wound, making sure to cover the whole area,’ I instruct him.

When he has applied the poultice I read the spell again to myself and place my hand over Magi’s foot. My hand starts to throb with magic and the electricity in the air around us charges. Aunt Lily’s eyes widen at the change in the atmosphere. Uncle Jo holds out his hand to her and she grabs it tightly.

My power responds and a light breeze sweeps through the room. I begin. ‘Incala sim tamaka fay.’ The breeze picks up speed around me, making Magi’s fur stand up on end. ‘Sabesa dun tuleta ra.’ Magi’s body begins to shudder. ‘Manisa fek bontada!’ I finish, taking a deep breath.

The atmosphere slowly settles and we wait in silence, hoping to see if Magi will respond. The minutes tick by and feel like hours. I hold my breath. Uncle Jo puts his hand on my shoulder. ‘No. Don’t. Just give her a minute,’ I say, swallowing the lump in my throat. He pulls his hand back and watches me silently.

Move
,
Mags
.
Move
.
Please move!

She begins to stir and we all let out a sigh of relief when she lightly opens her eyes. I place my head down near hers and whisper, ‘Hey, Mags. Everything’s alright.’ I stroke her head and kiss her nose. She looks at me with wounded eyes and tries to lick my face. ‘It’s okay, girl. You need to rest now.’ She whimpers and gently falls back to sleep. ‘Can we move her into the lounge room so she can be more comfortable?’ I ask.

Uncle Jo gently lifts her up and carries her through to the low set chaise near the fireplace. He places her down and I lay a blanket over her
.
I look down at her sleeping form and the pain of losing her threatens to engulf me.

No one will ever hurt you again
.

I turn to find Uncle Jo watching me warily.

‘What?’ I ask him, anger bubbling away within me.

He shakes his head, raising his hands in a submissive gesture. ‘Ellie, I know what you’re thinking and it’s not a good idea. You can’t go out there. That’s exactly what he wants.’

‘Did he use Magi as bait to get to me?’ I ask, shaking with anger.

He takes a moment before answering me. ‘Yes, that’s exactly what he did. He can’t penetrate the property because of your warding and the few devices that I implanted, but he needed to lure you out where you were vulnerable. He waited until Magi breached the perimeter, probably picking up on his scent, and then…’

‘And then he shot Mags,’ I seeth.

My body feels like pins and needles are attacking it from every surface as my magic erupts within me. I feel my energy surge outwards in violent waves. Uncle Jo is staring at me helpless. He hesitantly takes a step towards me.

‘Don’t!’ I warn. My voice doesn’t sound like mine. A burning begins to flare at my chest and I can feel the kuthun pulsating. I look at Uncle Jo and slowly reach for my necklace. I see him shake his head. I make contact.

I find myself outside the tepee. The air is crisp and fresh and the underlying smell of mint and herbs fills my nose with familiarity. I exhale and feel some of my anger leave me. Why did I come here? Just when I consider whether or not I should knock I hear Taqôq Wiyon’s voice speaking to me from within the tepee.

‘Come, come,’ he says calmly.

I walk in, noticing that everything is just as it was last time, except that Isabella is no longer here. He beckons me in with a wave of his hand and I take a seat on the mat across from him. I try to make myself comfortable but my remaining anger prevents me from relaxing completely.

He stares at me before speaking. ‘Time important,’ he says simply. ‘You need to understand.’

‘Understand what?’ I frown.

He grins at me, showing off the deep lines around his mouth. ‘Everything!’ he answers while making an arc with his hand through the air.

I smile thoughtfully and nod. ‘Yes, I understand,’ I say.

Taqôq Wiyon has a presence about him that feels like home. He exudes warmth and understanding, compassion and wisdom. Rare qualities that are not often found in people these days. His presence calms me.

I gesture towards where Isabella lay previously. ‘Where is Isabella?’