The Lost Treasure of Annwn (5 page)

‘Watch this,' he said as soon as Jack sat down.

Camelin pointed his wand at a pile of rubbish on the floor. With a flourish of his wand the rubbish rose and flew towards a wicker basket. The basket lid lifted and the rubbish flew inside. When the last piece had disappeared the lid fell back into place.

‘That's brilliant!' exclaimed Jack.

‘I know, pure genius, I'm never going to have to tidy my room by beak and claw again.'

‘How did you find out about that spell?'

‘Weeding by beak gives you plenty of time to think and I got to thinking… there had to be a tidying spell. When Nora and I finished in the herb garden I asked my Book of Shadows… and there it was.'

‘I wondered if Nora might have put a block on your book until you've had more wand practice.'

‘Oh she has, but not for every spell. I asked nicely and said please, and it opened up.'

‘That's really good.'

‘Don't tell Nora though, I don't want her knowing I'm practising on my own. I promise I won't do anything dangerous, just practical things.'

Jack smiled. He wondered if the things Camelin thought of as practical might be things Nora wouldn't approve of. If Jack could only use his magic on the gang it would solve all his problems but he knew he couldn't. That really would be something Nora wouldn't approve of. Camelin looked expectantly at Jack.

‘You won't tell then?'

‘No I won't, but be careful; remember you got your wand taken away last time you decided to experiment on your own. Anyway, I've got some news for you, Elan and I saw four fairies this afternoon.'

‘Humph! Fairies. Noisy creatures. Never stop talking… they're worse than Timmery.'

‘You've seen them?'

‘You don't have to see them to hear them, I stay well away.'

‘Well they saved Elan and me when those boys tried to ambush us.'

‘Ambush! Where?'

‘In the field near the stile, they've been bothering us all day in town.'

‘I'll get a watch put on them, don't you worry, leave it to me.'

‘Thanks but I don't want you getting into trouble.'

‘I won't, trust me.'

‘I suppose I'd better be off now. See you tomorrow?'

‘Are you sure you can spare the time now Elan's back?'

‘I'll come over and we can do something together. OK?'

‘OK.'

Jack left Camelin admiring his tidy loft. He made his way back to the kitchen and collected his letter.

‘I'll be off now.'

‘How do you fancy blackberry picking tomorrow morning?' asked Nora.

‘Can Camelin come too? I just said we could do something together tomorrow, he was feeling a bit left out today.'

‘Of course he can, he likes picking blackberries.'

Jack wondered if Camelin would be pleased. He liked picking to eat but collecting was another thing altogether. Maybe Nora would let him eat a few.

‘We'll arrange with your grandad for you to stay at the end of the month when we go back to Annwn,' said Nora as he reached the patio door.

Jack had to sidestep quickly as Medric burst into the kitchen, cackled loudly and dashed out again.

‘How many have hatched now?' asked Jack.

‘Eight,' replied Nora, ‘only two more to go. I was going to take you over to see them but I think we'll leave it for a while, at least until Medric's calmed down.'

‘Is there anything I can get for them?'

Elan smiled.

‘Names!'

‘Names?'

‘We need ten names but we don't know yet how many are males and how many are females. In his haste to give us the good news, Medric forgot to tell us.'

‘Won't Gerda and Medric want to name them?'

‘Gerda asked us to do it, as a thank you for rescuing Medric.'

‘I'll have a think,' said Jack.

‘If we all make a list maybe Gerda and Medric can choose the ones they like best,' suggested Elan.

‘That's a great idea,' replied Jack. ‘See you tomorrow.'

As Jack went through the hedge he felt grateful that he had a safe way to get to and from Ewell House. No matter what Elan said he was still worried about Max and the others and he knew that if he bumped into them when he was on his own he wouldn't be able to stand up to them. If only there was a way to stop them, but without magic he was powerless. He'd been looking forward to the holidays and hoped the boys weren't going to spoil it. He promised himself he'd try to forget about them and concentrate on other more important things, like names for the ten goslings, and his next visit to Annwn. Elan had said it was only a formality to prove he was the rightful king but he ought to find out more. As soon as he was alone he'd ask his Book of Shadows.

He could hear Grandad's radio before he left the tunnel. The Test Match was still on. At least with the no talking rule Grandad wouldn't be asking him any awkward questions. He needn't have worried; Grandad was asleep in the chair. Jack wrote a three-word note… in my bedroom… and trapped the corner under the empty lemonade glass. He raced upstairs and got out his Book of Shadows but before he opened it he took out his letter from Annwn and showed it to Orin.

 

 

REGISTRATION DAY

‘Can I go blackberry picking with Elan and Nora this morning?' Jack asked at breakfast.

‘Of course you can, there's nothing quite like Nora's blackberry pie. Could you give me a hand this afternoon at the Cricket Club? It's registration day and I could do with some help.'

‘Registration day?'

‘For the buggy race, but I'm forgetting, you'd have been too young to remember the last one you went to. It's been going for years, since before I was a lad.'

Grandad went over to the dresser and picked up a sheet of paper.

‘Here's the poster. The race takes place on Monument Hill. The whole village gets closed to traffic for the afternoon.'

‘Monument Hill?'

‘It's over at Lillerton, in the next village, you know, the hill you can see from my bedroom window with the spike on the top.'

Grandad sat back and folded his arms. He had a faraway look in his eyes.

‘Ah! The buggy race! It was the highlight of my year when I was a lad. It would start at the top of Monument Hill and end up in a field at the bottom where the biggest fair of the year always took place. The race and fair are on separate weekends now. It's a lot more complicated these days with all kinds of rules and regulations. There's an entry fee for the race, a form to be filled in, and an information pack to sign for. As I said, a lot more complicated than it used to be. Only ten to fifteen year olds can enter the race but the team is allowed an adult to help with the construction. They use the bridleway now that goes around Lillerton. Runners, and horse riders usually use it, but on Race Day it's given over to the buggies. It's been turned into a cross-country event with lots of difficult terrain. The end's the same though, with a downhill stretch from the top of Monument Hill to the field at the bottom.'

‘Did you ever do it?'

‘I should say so! Our team won three years in a row. We called each buggy we made, the Comet. We would have won four but one year our buggy was sabotaged.'

‘Sabotaged! How?'

‘Someone loosened one of the back wheels. We'd only just set off down the hill when the back end dropped to one side, I had trouble keeping the buggy straight and the next thing you know, one of the wheels went bouncing past. My best friend, who was riding the tail gate, jumped off and ran after it, but it was no good, we'd lost too much time.'

‘Did you find out who did it?'

‘Oh yes, they even bragged about it afterwards. It was the Smedley boys and their mate Archie Wratten, they're still around now, always caused trouble they did, and from what I hear, their grandsons aren't much better.'

Jack knew exactly who they were. It made him feel a lot better to know Grandad knew about Max and Tank. Maybe he ought to tell him they'd been bothering him. Jack decided not to say anything, he felt sure if he didn't deal with it himself they might never leave him alone.

‘What about Dad? Did he have a buggy?'

‘No, your dad wasn't interested in anything sporty, always had his head in a book.'

Jack looked at the poster again before helping Grandad clear the table and wash the dishes. The race sounded great but Jack had no idea how to build a buggy and he didn't have enough friends to make a team. Even without reading the rules and regulations, he was sure, ravens, rats, bats and dragons wouldn't be allowed as team members.

‘I'll see you later,' Jack called from the hall as he put on his backpack.

‘Bring Elan back for lunch if you like.'

‘Can she come and help at the Cricket Club?'

‘If she wants to, the more the merrier, I say.'

Jack felt slightly guilty. He'd not be able to invite Camelin back for lunch or to help register the teams. Telling him he wasn't included again wouldn't be easy.

‘Take your hat,' Grandad called, as Jack was about to leave. ‘You don't want to get too much sun on the back of your neck. It's a slow business picking blackberries.'

Jack picked up the new white floppy cricket hat Grandad had bought him. On the front was the Glasruhen Cricket Club badge. Jack smiled as he looked at the logo. It was the silhouette of a sturdy oak tree; several grew in the grounds of the cricket club where a great forest of oaks once stood.

‘See you later,' Jack shouted back as he put on his new hat so Grandad would see he'd taken it.

Jack thought about names for the goslings as he walked through the tunnel to the bottom of Nora's garden. It was harder than he'd expected, especially since he hadn't seen them yet. The only idea he'd had was to make the last two letters of the gosling's names the same as Medric and Gerda. Finding ten names between them shouldn't be too hard. As he approached the hole in the hedge Jack heard Saige croaking. He was too far away to hear what she'd said but he presumed Camelin would be nearby. He wasn't wrong. As he entered the garden he saw Camelin perched on top of the rockery.

‘And how many girl goslings are there?'

‘Four,' came Saige's reply.

Jack smiled. If anyone would know the answer to that question Saige would.

‘Six boy goslings then,' said Jack as he joined them.

‘How do you know? Have you been asking Saige questions?'

‘No, it's easy to work out.'

Camelin humphed and looked annoyed.

‘You just take four from ten and you get six.'

‘I know, I know, it's just that I haven't thought of many goose boy names yet.'

‘What have you thought of?'

‘Cherry, Honey, Olive and Candy for the girls. Kebab and Bacon for the boys.'

‘But they're all food names and you can't have Kebab and Bacon.'