The Lost Treasure of Annwn (16 page)

There was silence from the gang as Max looked from one to the other. When Techno finished writing he looked up.

‘Did you get all that?'

Techno nodded.

‘And can you build what we need?'

Again Techno nodded before finally speaking.

‘I'll need to go with Danny to find the right place before I start making something.'

‘Great, we'll meet on the Back Lane, ready for action on Sunday afternoon. The whole of Glasruhen will be at the Cricket Club and she'll have to come out sometime. That weedy boyfriend of hers will be at the match with his grandad so she's bound to meet him there, only she'll not turn up 'cos she'll be too busy cleaning syrup and feathers off, won't she!'

Max laughed loudly, which seemed to be the cue for the rest of the gang to laugh too. Jack could see Techno and Benbow weren't laughing as hard as Tank and Danny. He wondered if Benbow was regretting mentioning the story about the rabbit. Jack looked across at the five starlings. He was very grateful they'd taken their duties so seriously. Camelin's Flying Squad had been a brilliant idea. Max had been right about the match on Sunday, he was going to be there with his grandad. At least now they knew what was being planned, Elan could avoid the back lane, or stay at Ewell House instead of going to the Cricket Club.

‘See you later,' said Danny as he got up to go.

Techno and Benbow got up too and the three of them walked in silence across the grass towards the gate.

‘Brilliant plan, Max,' said Tank.

Max didn't say anything but Jack could see he was smirking.

‘Better get off too, see ya later.'

Max turned and walked back towards the house. Tank didn't leave; instead he walked over to one of the flowerbeds, bent over, and picked up a few small stones. He came back to the shed and started throwing them at the starlings on the roof. There were shrieks and ear-piercing cries as the five birds took off. One of the stones clipped Twizzle's wing and slightly knocked him off balance. The birds swerved and turned together in mid-air before heading straight back towards Tank. One by one they dive-bombed him. Jack had seen Camelin in action before and the starling's aim was just as good. In no time Tank was splattered. With a loud triumphant shriek the birds flew off to the safety of a nearby tree. Jack laughed. It served Tank right. That might teach him not to throw stones at birds. A loud buzzing sound made Jack and Tank look towards the trees, a very large bee came into sight. Jack could see this wasn't an ordinary bee, it had the body of a very angry looking fairy and it was heading straight for Tank.

 

‘Come on,' called Camelin. ‘Race you back.'

Jack let Camelin go on ahead. By the time he flew into the kitchen, Camelin had already reached the part where the fairy bee was chasing Tank.

‘Ah! Veronica!' laughed Nora. ‘She can't stand injustice. She'll be watching him closely from now on.'

Elan laughed.

‘If he bothers you again Jack, just make a buzzing noise, he'll soon run away!'

Jack tried to imitate Veronica and Camelin joined in.

‘That's enough you two,' said Nora, ‘we've got things to discuss.'

Jack transformed and tried out his new visualisation skill.

‘You've mastered that, haven't you?' said Nora, as Jack stood before her in his black tracksuit and trainers. ‘Now, shall we sit down?'

Jack looked at Elan. She didn't look worried. He wondered if Camelin had told her everything they'd overheard.

‘Grandad and I can meet you at the gate on Sunday if you like. The gang wouldn't dare do anything with him there.'

‘It's not a problem,' Elan reassured him. ‘I can take care of myself.'

Nora tapped her wand on the table.

‘Shall we begin? We want to hear everything that happened at Falconrock.'

Camelin hopped over to the open door.

‘I'll be in my loft if you need me, Jack told me all about it on the way back and I don't need to hear it all again.'

Jack smiled to himself as Camelin flew off before Nora could reply.

 

Nora nodded thoughtfully once Jack had finished speaking.

‘And you say the crystal chose you?'

‘My hand was pulled towards it but I wasn't able to keep it.'

‘No one can possess or control crystal magic but it will come to your aid if you are ever in need. Let us hope you're never in a position to need that kind of help.'

‘What about the knowledge from the book?' asked Elan, ‘Can you remember any of it?'

‘Not a word but things I couldn't possibly know just pop into my head. When I had my hand in the pool in the labyrinth I just knew the name of every crystal, and I knew what each one could do and what colour it was.'

‘From what you say, you absorbed the whole book. You'll keep that knowledge now for the rest of your life and it will be there, like the crystal magic, whenever you might need it.'

Both Nora and Elan smiled.

‘You're going to be a great king, Jack Brenin,' said Elan.

Jack blushed. He felt a long way from being great.

‘You'd better go and get your things together; it's almost time for you to go. Elan says you're going to start collecting parts for the buggy today.'

Jack had forgotten all about the buggy. He'd been far too preoccupied with other things.

 

Jack felt a bit guilty as he walked through Nora's garden. Elan was chatting away happily and Orin was riding on his shoulder. He knew Camelin was watching them. The buggy was already becoming a problem and Jack didn't want to exclude Camelin but there was no way to include him, not while Grandad was there. It wasn't the only problem on his mind.

‘You don't have to come to the cricket match if you'd rather not,' Jack told Elan as they walked through the tunnel to Grandad's garden.

‘It'll be fine, you'll see.'

Jack knew they wouldn't be able to discuss the matter any further when he saw Grandad in the garden. He called to them as they came out of the tunnel.

‘Hello you two! Come and look at what I've got.'

Jack and Elan stood at the shed door and waited for Grandad to unlock it. On the floor was a pile of wood, pieces of metal, thick rope and two tins of paint.

‘We'll need to sort this lot out,' Grandad told them. ‘I don't know how much of it will be any good. The plans for the Comet are on the bench over there, I dug them out of the loft, so at least we've got something to work from.'

Jack went over and examined the plan. It was old and tatty at the edges. Someone had written, The Comet, across the top in thick capital letters. Underneath was a sketch of the finished buggy. It had four small wheels and a tapered body in the shape of a rocket. There were flames attached down both sides. The buggy had been coloured silver and its name had been written in blue capital letters across the front. The rest of the paper was covered in notes, drawings, crossings out and diagrams Jack didn't understand.

‘What do you think?' asked Grandad. ‘She was a beauty, flew like the wind she did.'

‘It looks great,' said Jack with as much conviction as he could muster.

Elan came and stood beside him.

‘It's brilliant.'

A broad smile spread across Grandad's face.

‘Well, we might as well make a start. I'm going to enjoy this.'

 

 

AMBUSH

For the next two days, Jack and Elan helped Grandad sort through the scrap pile in his shed. By late Saturday afternoon the rubbish had been loaded into Grandad's trailer.

‘If we get a move on I can make it to the tip with this lot before they close,' he told them.

Jack looked at the inside of the shed. It was very tidy. All the useful bits of wood and metal had been laid out at the far end under the two shelves. Jack had levered off the tops of the paint tins and looked inside. There was plenty of blue, yellow and black paint, but the silver was no longer useable. They'd decided unanimously that the buggy would be blue and they'd use the black to paint the buggy's name along each side.

‘Now are you sure you don't want me to bring back a tin of silver?' Grandad asked before he drove off.

‘It's fine,' Jack assured him. ‘I like blue.'

‘So do I,' said Elan.