The Morrow Secrets (23 page)

As Ruker made her way back through the tunnel she was seething at Benedict. Not only had he endangered the life of her dear friend but he had become more difficult of late. The icy drippiness of the tunnel saturated her clothes for the second time that day. Eventually she pulled herself out of the tunnel and poked her head round the side of the boulder. But there was no sign of Benedict. She called his name to make sure he hadn’t fallen or injured himself, but he was nowhere to be seen. Blast that selfish boy, she said to herself. But Ruker had a strange feeling. She had half-expected something like this from Benedict, some disappearing act, something to attract everyone’s attention. But where was he? Surely he wouldn’t wander off alone. She made a final search of the cave then decided to head back to the others. Exhausted, Ruker pulled her soaking body to the end of the tunnel and hauled herself out.

‘Where’s Benedict? Is he behind you making a fuss?’ asked Tallitha peering into the dark hole.
Ruker shook her head. ‘When I got to the other side he’d vanished.’
‘What do you mean? He can’t have done. Did you look for him?’ asked Tallitha.
‘Of course I looked everywhere within reach. He’s a damned nuisance.’
‘But where is he?’ asked Tyaas, sounding alarmed.
‘Benedict isn’t the sort to go wandering off alone,’ said Ruker, ‘maybe he’s been taken.’
‘Taken! What shall we do?’ exclaimed Tallitha anxiously.
Ruker and Esmerelda exchanged glances. They knew if Benedict had disappeared, that was it. They would have to leave without him.
‘You look exhausted, Ruker. Take a rest and have some of the liquorice cordial. I suggest that Neeps and Tyass go back to make absolutely certain he isn’t there. Then by the time they return we’ll have had time to decide what to do,’ suggested Esmerelda.
The pair set off and retraced Ruker’s steps, but they were also unsuccessful. Neeps poked his head out of the tunnel.
‘No. He’s definitely vanished.’
Someone had to make a decision.
‘We must press on without him,’ said Ruker finally.
Tallitha gasped and Esmerelda took her hand.
‘If he’s been taken, and if we go looking for him, chances are the same will happen to us. I agree with Ruker. He wouldn’t have gone off by himself. He’s too scared down here in the dark. There’s nothing for it but to continue.’
‘What, leave him here all by himself? But that’s awful. Would you do that to us?’ asked Tallitha.
‘I told him what would happen the last time he disobeyed me. We can’t split up and go searching for him, not down here,’ said Ruker angrily.
‘But Ruker, Essie...’ pleaded Tallitha.
‘As the leader of this expedition I have the final word. Our safety cannot be jeopardised for one person. We must go forward. I’m sorry but there it is.’
Ruker flung her pack over her shoulder and began to rope up.
‘But it’s so dark and lonely down here. What if he...?’ but her voice trailed away.
Tallitha broke into a sob. Tyaas tried his best to comfort his sister but she shrugged him off. Benedict could die all alone down here in the darkness and they were responsible. They were leaving him.
‘Tallitha, I wish there was another way. He shouldn’t have stayed on the other side.’
‘You shouldn’t have let him,’ wailed Tallitha but she knew Ruker had no choice.
Maybe it was her fault for letting him come along in the first place.
Tallitha tried pleading with the Skinks but they were adamant. Benedict was lost in the cold, dark hell.
‘OK, pay attention,’ said Ruker, ‘the next part of the journey is hazardous. There’s an overhanging ledge, crumbling away in places so I’m going to rope up. I’ll use the verbenas to anchor us into the rock face, then should anyone stumble we can catch them. Like this...’ Ruker demonstrated the safety mechanism of the ropes and began screwing the verbenas into position.
It was a slow hard climb to the overhanging ledge. Tallitha’s legs were shaking from the sheer effort of hauling herself up over such a long distance. Her arm muscles throbbed and her fingers stung from grasping the jagged edges of the rock. Finally she felt her fingers creep over the edge and Ruker pulled her to safety.
‘Don’t look down whatever you do,’ she whispered, hauling Tallitha’s body onto a narrow pathway.
Tallitha pressed her body flat against the rock wall. Through the cracks in the ledge she could see into the Murk Mowl’s kingdom. Tallitha screwed up her eyes and concentrated on moving along the thin strip of rock that was the only buffer between her and the cavernous drop below. They crawled along at a glacial pace. The bulging rock face forced them to hang on to the rope and lean out over the fathomless pit below in order to manoeuvre the twists and turns in the cave wall.
Esmerelda could not resist peering down. Below, the Murk Mowl moved up and down the rock face, foraging for their young in the stone funnels. Their yellow pod-like feeding nurseries dangled from the cavern wall, bouncing up and down whenever a Mowl entered or left. The pods resembled rubber sacks containing bundles of writhing kittens, the mewling sounds from the murk litters, echoing up the cavern walls. Esmerelda’s thoughts turned to the Murk Mowl’s prey, both dead and alive, sordidly stored in the grizzly Murk turrows scattered throughout the caves. She gasped and averted her eyes.
Tyaas whispered in a strained voice, ‘Ruker says we have to wait here. There’s some sort of problem.’
Ahead of them, Esmerelda could hear the Skinks speaking in hushed tones.
‘Come on, but be prepared for something shocking,’ said Tyaas over his shoulder.
As Esmerelda rounded the bulge in the cave wall the reason for Ruker’s warning confronted them. There before them was a long tunnel filled with Murk turrows.
‘We either go through this tunnel or we find another way,’ said Tallitha, horrified.
‘We don’t have a choice,’ said Esmerelda raising her head. ‘This must be the Throes of Woe.’
Above the tunnel was a pattern carved in the rock.
‘B-but it’s the same pattern that was embroidered on the sampler I found,’ whispered Tallitha.
‘Maybe that Groat was trying to trick us,’ said Neeps. ‘This tunnel could lead us into even more danger.’
Inside, the hideous chambers went downward into the darkness.
‘Let’s find out where it leads. Tyaas, will you come with me? Neeps can stay with the others. It will be sickening down there, I should warn you,’ said Ruker.
‘I’ll come,’ answered Tyaas without hesitation.
‘We won’t be long,’ said Ruker and with that they stepped into the turrow.
By the lamplight, Tyaas witnessed the despicable work of the Murk Mowl. Each chamber held a creature or parts of them, long dead and preserved in yellow glistening gel. Ruker held a handkerchief to her face to keep out the stench of rotting flesh. In front of each turrow there was a small trench, filled with the bodies of rotting vermin and beetles. Tyaas mouthed to Ruker, ‘What’s that?’
‘It’s full of poison, to stop the rats and insects eating the Murk fodder.’
Tyaas’s terrified eyes shone in the flickering light. What if the Mowl should discover them? They would end up like these dead souls. The sordid place reminded Tyaas of the mausoleum at Winderling Spires. It was the smell of the dead and the lingering presence of the spirits, their ghostliness in death pervading each crevice of the dank chamber.
At the end of the tunnel Ruker covered the flickering candle and gingerly poked her head round the corner. She indicated for Tyaas to stay out of sight. As the ledge wound round the rock face there was a group of Mowl sitting on their haunches, tearing at hunks of raw flesh, guarding the way out. Their heads bobbed up and down at the feed, ravaging their food like voracious animals, pieces of raw meat and blood dripping down their faces and splattering their grizzly hands. Tyaas heard the crunch of bone and the wrench of flesh and pressed himself flat against the stone wall of the turrow, his breath coming in rapid bursts. In a heartbeat Ruker grabbed Tyaas and moved like lightning, ripping back past the turrows.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Esmerelda as they emerged shaking from the tunnel.
‘Mowl,’ was all that Ruker said as she hurried along the narrow ledge. They inched forward on their hands and knees trying desperately not to displace a stone or disturb any cave creature that would alert the Murk Mowl. They might have succeeded had Tallitha not suddenly swayed and dropped her backpack. She let out a whimper and they held their breath as they watched the pack falling in slow motion, bouncing off the cavern walls. They prayed it would lodge itself somewhere between them and the Murk Mowl, but it didn’t. As it landed with a heavy thud, there was a second or two of agonising silence. Then it started. The deadly murkish screams came rushing up the cavern, piercing the air. The battle cry of the Murk Mowl filled Old Yawning Edges as the Mowl spotted the intruders and took flight to catch them.
‘Quick, get off the ledge! Move, Tallitha!’ shouted Ruker.
But Tallitha had lost her nerve. She was stuck between Neeps and Tyaas.
‘Tallitha, move forward, please!’ urged Tyaas.
She remained shaking on the ledge. ‘I can’t. I’m too scared to move. I’ll fall!’ she cried helplessly.
‘Come on Sis, let me help you,’ begged Tyaas desperately.
But Tallitha bent her head, shaking with fear as the Murk Mowl scaled the cavern wall and pounced on her. The others didn’t take too much finding either. They were no match for the Mowl. Violently the Murk Mowl dragged the prisoners to their foul lair, sniffing all their sweet-smelling body scents, assessing their tastiness and licking their fat lips.

*
Later, when the prison was quiet, Esmerelda pulled herself up to the grille and called to the others. She knew Neeps was somewhere near her.

She had heard him cry out as he was thrown on to the cell floor after a period of interrogation. At some point Tallitha replied, whispering into the darkness.

‘Essie, I’m here with Tyaas. They’ve taken Ruker to be interrogated. I hate to think what they are doing to her.’
But Esmerelda knew what the interrogation would entail. She had endured these tortures herself so she sat in her black hole waiting for the terror to be visited upon them. Some time later Ruker returned and although Tallitha called out to her, there was no response.
The days passed slowly and the routine in the prison was monotonous. They were woken early each day and taken one by one to a washing room. The water was freezing and the guards poked fun at them as they shivered under the icy blasts. Breakfast consisted of water and biscuits, followed by a basic meal before the lanterns were doused at night. The only safe time to communicate was at dead of night when the guards were dozing. Ruker and Neeps had been cruelly treated and suffered greatly from their wounds. It was many days before they spoke to their friends. Tallitha was in the next cell to Ruker and very slowly she was able to piece together what had happened to the Skinks.
‘I told them very little,’ whispered Ruker through the grille. ‘Only that we were looking for Asenathe and they laughed in my face.’
‘What about our helpful friends?’ asked Tallitha, concerned about the cave-shrove’s safety.
‘Nothing. I said nothing,’ she said finally.
But in their dark lonely cells the grizzly horror of the Murk turrows filled their waking thoughts and haunted their dreams, night after endless night.

After a week of unrelenting grime and cold, one morning after a measly breakfast the prisoners were dragged along a series of gloomy tunnels. Ruker and Neeps were the worse for their experiences. Neeps had a red oozing gash across his forehead and Ruker had deep bruises on her face and neck. The others looked dishevelled after days in the damp dark cells. Esmerelda had circles under her eyes, plagued by the thought of ending her days as Murk meat. Tallitha looked thin, her hair had lost its abundant shine and her eyes had a fearful glint in the lamplight.

Her cousin didn’t know what fate awaited them. She reached out and squeezed Tallitha’s frozen fingers in the darkness. Suddenly the Murk Mowl barked orders at them and they stopped at a solid rock face. The Murk guard pushed the Skinks up on a ledge and untied their hands.

‘Climb,’ ordered the guard pointing to a series of rope ladders suspended from the cave wall.
The Skinks raced up into the darkness.
‘What’s up there?’ asked Tyaas hesitantly.
Esmerelda faltered, fearing the worst but began climbing nonetheless. They had little choice with the Murk Mowl right behind them. It was a tough climb. They were weak from days spent in the damp cells. Tallitha’s breathing became more laboured the higher she climbed. She was exhausted but the ladders reached way up into the black shaft above them. Suddenly Esmerelda gasped and pointed up the shaft. There, up above, was a bright crack of daylight. Then the brightness hurt her eyes. At last they were coming out into the sunlight.
Tallitha heaved her tired body out of the shaft and fell onto a grassy mound into the cool breeze at the very top of The-Out-Of-The-WayMountains. Esmerelda stretched her arms and breathed deeply as the clean fresh air filled her lungs and the sunlight fell upon her dirty swollen face.
‘Move, now!’ ordered the Murk Captain, jabbing the hilt of his sword into her side. ‘Follow me.’
They had escaped from the knife-cold darkness. Tallitha gathered Tyaas to her side and peered out underneath her fringe at the Mowl’s appearance in the glaring sunlight. Their blood-drained flesh hung in deep folds and their rheumy fish-eyes protruded out of hooded pouches in their thick, rubbery faces. Their ears were full of metal piercings which had been trained into bizarre shapes and only added to their ugliness. Tallitha hoped the Mowl would not hurt them. She breathed in the sweet smell of the grasses and felt their feathery touch as she moved ahead through the summer meadow. She gazed heavenward at the freedom of the sea birds coasting on the wind currents and felt the invigorating biting wind on her sunken cheeks.
The Murk Captain led them down a steep path, littered with rock falls, to a wooded ravine and a stream which chuckled away at their feet.
‘Sit there, no talking,’ ordered the guards.
From the opposite side of the ravine Ruker spied a party of Groats moving heavily down the hillside. There was a hurried exchange, then the prisoners were handed over to the Groats and the Mowl disappeared down a hole in the mountain, back from whence they had came.
The Groats rounded on their prisoners and taunted them mercilessly for daring to escape, nicking their skin with their swords and swearing oaths to kill them. As the day edged towards dusk, the Groats led them further down the ravine and into a glade. There before them was a large tent, the colour of the forest with royal insignia painted on the awnings.
‘Get inside,’ ordered the Groats, pushing them viciously with the butt of their swords.
Tallitha and the others huddled together, their eyes fixed on the Groats who guarded all the exits. Inside, the tent was laid out like a sumptuous palace with velvet cushions and silken drapes surrounding a large central platform.
‘What is this dreadful place?’ asked Neeps, staring at the feathered specimens that adorned the tent.
Placed around the room were a number of birds, noisily squawking and flapping their wings at the visitors. Three shiny ravens preened their glossy feathers in a large domed cage, occasionally pecking at each other in annoyance whilst two vultures sat stone-like on either side of the podium, chained to their wooden plinths. Occasionally their eyelids moved, revealing their hard black eyes which observed their visitors with malice.
It was not long before a tall, thin woman entered the main tent. Her hooked nose resembled the beaks of the threatening birds who caw-cawed reverently at her entrance. As she walked across the podium, wild ocelots roamed about her sandalled feet, spitting ferociously at the noisy birds.
‘Quiet, my pets,’ she drawled.
The woman was dressed in a black dress that trailed behind her on the floor. Her waist-length hair was the colour of charcoal streaked with strands of white. She positioned herself on an ornate chair and idly surveyed the prisoners. Four Groats stood to attention at her side.
‘Who is she?’ mouthed Tyaas into Tallitha’s ear but his sister shook her head.
Tyaas was mesmerised by the way the woman held herself. There was something worryingly familiar about her.
‘All stand for Asphodel, Queen of the Dark Reaches,’ shouted one of the Groats and stamped his staff on the floor.
‘Oh no,’ whispered Esmerelda under her breath, ‘I feared as much.’
The prisoners stood for the haughty Queen. She was stick-thin with a fierce glint in her ebony eyes. Asphodel clicked her fingers and one of the Groats returned with a plate of food which the Queen toyed with in front of her hungry visitors. She tossed morsels to the ocelots that scurried backwards and forwards at her feet, gobbling the food, hissing and spitting at each other. Asphodel nibbled bird-like portions, desiring all who surveyed her to notice the thinness of her angular body. Tallitha’s heart began to race. What was it about this woman that unsettled her so?
‘She’s a sorceress,’ whispered Tyaas in Tallitha’s ear.
‘Silence!’ shouted a Groat, poking his staff into Tyaas’s ribs.
Asphodel whispered to one of the Groats who hauled Tallitha before the Queen.
‘Come here Tallitha and let me see you, close up!’ demanded the Queen who circled Tallitha, touching her hair and peering right into her face.
The Queen was much older than Tallitha had first thought, with crows-feet wrinkles etched at the corner of her eyes and deep furrowed lines by her mouth and nose. Her long hair was fastened with black pearl clasps at intervals in the long tresses. She stretched out her spindly hand and raised the chin of the unkempt girl before her.
‘Tell me child, what were you doing snooping about in the Dark Reaches?’
Tallitha gazed past the Queen and refused to answer. Asphodel flashed her granite-eyes and clicked her brittle fingers, making a snapping noise next to Tallitha’s ear.
‘Have it your own way, stupid girl. Bring that boy Tyaas to me now!’
A vehement Tyaas was roughly placed next to his sister. The marble-hearted Queen pursed her mouth into an evil smile and reached down into a velvet pouch which was fastened to her belt. She opened the drawstring, plunging her talons inside and lifted out a wriggling purple reptile. Asphodel stared into the reptile’s hooded eyes and held it tightly by the neck. It writhed under her pinching grip, lashing its viperish tongue in the Queen’s face. Asphodel flung her head back and mad peals of laughter filled the tent. Then she viciously nipped the creature to annoy it even more. At the sight of the reptile, Ruker and Neeps strained to get out of their fastenings but were savagely lashed by the Groat guards. Then Asphodel held the creature above the boy’s head.
‘This is a Helly Dragon, isn’t she a pretty one?’ said Asphodel. ‘She’s deadly poisonous and will bite your brother when I drop her down his neck. So, Tallitha, I will ask you once more. What were you doing in my kingdom?’
Asphodel spat out the words in Tallitha’s face. The Queen loomed above her and Tallitha reared back, squirming out of Asphodel’s reach, trying to avoid her perfume which had the pungent aroma of rotting fruit.
‘Don’t hurt him! We came looking for my cousin Asenathe,’ she spluttered nervously.
‘Still fascinated with her?’ she laughed wickedly.
She held the Helly Dragon over Tyaas’s shirt and made as if to drop the creature down his back.
‘Leave him alone. It was my idea to look for Asenathe,’ shouted Esmerelda moving towards the podium.
The Groats pulled on the ropes to restrain Esmerelda who jarred against their strength. Asphodel started at the sound of Esmerelda’s voice and her face twisted into a malevolent sneer.
‘Bring her closer, that I may see her better,’ she ordered and stamped her feet.
She recognised her instantly.
‘Ahhh, you’re a fool to come back here. You should have been destroyed many years ago. But we’ll do it now,’ she said and bared her sharp white teeth. ‘Take her outside and execute her immediately.’
Tallitha gasped and Asphodel laughed, roughly pushing her to one side. Almost at once there was a scuffling noise at the rear of the tent and someone fell, tripping over the awnings.
‘Pl-please, please don’t hurt her, mother,’ the small voice pleaded.
In the moments that followed every one of the friends became completely still, their mouths falling open in utter disbelief. It was a voice they recognised but found difficult to reconcile with the strange place they found themselves in. Everything happened in a dream as the figure of Benedict slowly emerged from the back of the tent. Tallitha stared wide-eyed at him in horror.
‘Benedict, this can’t be true!’
Had she heard him correctly? He had said the word, ‘Mother’, to that vile woman. Asphodel was Benedict’s mother! But it made no sense. He was their cousin and his parents... but she had never met them, had she?
‘But, hang on a minute,’ said Tyaas in a state of confusion. ‘I don’t understand. What happened, Benedict? Where did you go? Are you drugged or something?’
Benedict shifted uncomfortably from one leg to the other.
‘You traitor,’ shouted Ruker. ‘You nearly had us killed in the pits!’
She strained with all her might to free herself from the Groats. At that moment she wanted to strangle Benedict with her bare hands.
‘But we trusted you. You’ve betrayed us!’ shouted Tallitha, ‘and I was so worried about you,’ she cried. ‘I even blamed myself.’
Benedict’s cheeks reddened and he pushed his floppy hair out of his eyes. ‘I didn’t mean to... I meant to help you when you dropped the sampler. I suppose I was showing off to impress you.’
It was then that Tallitha saw clearly how weak Benedict was. She remembered her initial feelings towards him, that he was a strange, awkward boy. Now she knew why. She should have trusted her initial instincts. Now it was much too late. She felt sick with dread.
‘Benedict, come to Mother,’ Asphodel said and clicked her fingers.
Benedict shuffled towards the Queen and sat at her feet, trying to avoid the gaze of the shocked faces all around him as Asphodel stroked his head like a pet.
‘There, why don’t I tell your little friends all about it?’ she said venomously, relishing their betrayal.
Benedict looked beseechingly up at his mother and began playing with the hem of her dress.
‘B-but don’t hurt Essie, p-please Mother,’ pleaded Benedict.
He flinched slightly and turned away from Asphodel’s savage face. He knew his mother was capable of unspeakable cruelty.
‘But why shouldn’t I?’ she said, petulantly turning her red-raging eyes on Esmerelda.
‘Please, p-please mother,’ begged Benedict, averting his eyes from her stony face and raising his hand to protect himself. Benedict cowered before his mother. Tallitha could see that Asphodel was a heartless fiend. She was uncertain in that moment whether the Queen would strike him or give in to his wishes. Her whole face seethed with hatred.
‘I will spare the woman for now,’ she shouted, snapping her fingers.
Tallitha and Tyaas were dragged from the podium and the Helly Dragon was returned spitting to her pouch. Asphodel scrutinised the dishevelled friends in their state of bewilderment, licked her thin savage lips and began.
‘Are you going to tell them or shall I?’ she asked, teasing Benedict and pushing him with her foot.
‘I.... well... y-you tell them, if you have to,’ he said snivelling.
‘Of course,’ she said savouring the moment, ‘I have been waiting a very long time for this.’
She shot her coal black eyes at Tallitha and her lip curled in a cruel grimace.
‘I’m surprised you haven’t guessed already. Well have you?’ she cried as wicked delight smouldered in her eyes. ‘Oh it’s too delicious,’ she said clutching herself with malicious glee. ‘Why, Benedict is my son and also your cousin,’ she said, waving her talons towards Tallitha and Tyaas.
This woman was some kind of enchantress and she had bewitched Benedict. That was it!
Tallitha snorted at the ludicrous lie that tripped off the Queen’s tongue.
‘That’s ridiculous! How can he be our cousin? If he’s your son, he can’t be related to us as well,’ laughed Tallitha.
Asphodel reared up like a serpent, towering over them.
‘I’ll wipe that smile off your face little girl! He is your cousin, on your mother’s side,’ Asphodel said with venom visibly pumping through her cold veins. ‘Snowdroppe is my little sister!’ she screamed.
Tallitha and Tyaas stared in horror as Asphodel delivered her cruel blow. The silence in the room was palpable as the Queen’s terrible words struck home. Tallitha faltered and grabbed hold of Tyaas for support.
‘You’re telling me that you’re my Aunt?’ gasped Tallitha.
‘You?’ said Tyaas horrified. ‘It isn’t true!’
Asphodel leapt towards them, throwing her arms in the air.
‘Can’t you see the resemblance between my sister and me?’ she laughed wickedly.
As Tallitha stared into Asphodel’s cold black eyes, the resemblance was unmistakable. Asphodel was their mother’s sister. Tallitha felt physically sick.
‘But why have we never met you, or never heard of you before?’ asked Tyaas.
Asphodel bristled and threw Tyaas a vile look.
‘Silence, stupid boy! That’s not your concern. Benedict has been watching you and making sure we were updated with all your plans. He has been such a good boy, haven’t you?’
She stroked Benedict’s head as he kept his eyes averted from the Queen.
‘When you entered the winding tunnel, he decided he’d had enough of nasty dark, wet places. There’s only so much espionage the boy could take. He became bored with your silly adventure and left. I was a teensy bit angry with him, wasn’t I, Benedict? Had to reprimand my little soldier, didn’t I?’ she said pulling his hair a little too hard. Benedict winced. ‘But I forgave him because he had told me everything, leaving little notes for my spies to find.’
‘Benedict, how could you!’ screamed Tallitha in her cousin’s face.
Then Tallitha remembered, back in the mausoleum.
‘It wasn’t my fault. I warned you in the schoolroom, before I told you about Hellstone Tors. But then Aunt Snowdroppe found out and she told M-mother, and they are very persuasive. I had to do what they said,’ he whined.
Tallitha lunged violently at Benedict but one of the Groats held her firm. Benedict coloured slightly and looked away. Tallitha saw before her a sad, lonely, misplaced boy.
‘Ha ha, so sweet,’ mocked Asphodel, ‘this enduring interest you have in Asenathe after all these years.’
‘I hate you,’ shouted Tallitha.
But Asphodel carried on playing with her food, feigning boredom. Then she looked straight at Tallitha.
‘You’re Agatha’s heir and one day you will inherit Winderling Spires and will eventually rule Wycham Elva. That is, until my sister and I help you with your heavy burden.’