The Magic Lands (72 page)

Glancing at Dredger, Tom
nodded. "I'm going to miss you both."

The warrior extended his hand
and the boy clasped it firmly. "I will strive to be worthy of your
friendship," the man said, conviction shining in his eyes.

"And the beast in Man?" Tom
asked, deeply affected by the warrior's words and Dredger frowned,
dark emotions passing swiftly through his mind.

"It still lives," he said in a
quiet voice, "but no longer within my soul."

Reluctantly, Tom turned to
where Mo stood, waiting for him. "It's hard to say goodbye," he
said, bending down to ruffle the badger's fur.

"You should know by now," Mo
told him, "that this is no more than a moment. We three shall come
together again, before too long."

"And now," Dredger called, "up
with you. Farewell, my friend."

The warrior hoisted him upward
easily into the air and Tom hardly had time to call back his best
wishes for them both. His fingers curled around thick branches and
within seconds he was scrambling up onto the top of the hedge. And
there was the tree, broad and dark, a cruel reminder of Jack.

Tom glanced over his shoulder,
trying to catch a glimpse of his friends, but he couldn't see
anything at all, the bulk of the massive hedge obscuring his view,
and then he was climbing, up into the arms of the tree and down
once more, down into the garden.

EPILOGUE

Tom returned to live in his
Aunt and Uncle's house, remaining there even after they had both
passed away and been buried in the earth, their spirits he knew,
soaring through the heavens on an angel's wing.

And each evening he would walk
through the garden, his eyes drawn to the night sky, watching for
the sign that he knew would come.

The last remnants of the
Beast's nature persisted in his homeland and Tom still walked a
dark road, easing pain where he was able, using his knowledge as
best he could. He had grown to be a man whose friends counted him
special indeed. And yet he had never married, never had children of
his own. Instead Tom carried an image of his loved ones within his
soul.

Soon he would recognise a
familiar light in the sky, a shepherd star that he would follow.
Many wondrous things would come to pass then, magic set loose again
on an unsuspecting world of blinded Men. And finally, in the end,
all would be put to rights, evil banished forever and innocence
regained.

And after this, he would fly
once more, reunited with his family. Free to sail in an empyreal
sphere, encompassed by love.