It was old grief, everything she’d pushed down after losing Granny Flossy, choking and painful. The sorrow was so solid, so enormous, that it blocked out everything else like a wave. Willow could feel the blood rushing in her ears and it was as if the world were escaping her grasp. She began to howl as she slumped to the ground.
She couldn’t see for the tears as she cried out their names. It was all her fault! The queen was right – she’d lured them here. She’d chosen to come here, and she’d risked all of them in the process. Everyone who had believed in her had paid such a terrible price. Perhaps her family had been right all along not to believe in her. Look what she’d done!
Willow sobbed into the dark forest and then, somehow, she heard her grandmother’s voice from behind her.
‘Now, now, lass. Dry yer eyes. Tell me, what is it?’
Willow gasped and looked around. But she couldn’t see her. There was just a faint lime-green glow surrounding Willow, like a coronet round her knees. She felt warmed by it somehow, as if it were a small, glowing flame. She blinked back her tears and whispered, ‘Are you here, Granny?’ Her heart skipped a beat in fear. ‘Are you … lost …’ She looked at the faces of her friends. ‘Like them?’
‘No, child. I’m the part that lives forever within you. We all leave a little of our souls behind with the people we loved. ’Tis only now that you’re in the world of souls and memories that I’m able to speak with you, lass – through the magic of this place. Tell me what it is you’re feeling that’s making it all disappear? Making you doubt your abilities, and yourself?’
Willow’s lip trembled. It was there, the thing that she’d been pushing down for weeks, trying not to feel. She closed her eyes and fresh tears poured down her face.
‘I feel lost. Lost without you.’
Suddenly it was like a dam burst and Willow sobbed. She didn’t know who she was any more. All she felt was alone.
‘I am always with you, lass. Those we love never truly fade away. They live in our hearts and in our memories. They give us strength when we need it most.’ Willow imagined more than felt Granny Flossy’s finger run beneath her lashes, wiping away her tears. ‘You know what you need to do. You can feel it there. Just believe, child.’
And then there on the shadowy ground appeared Granny’s purple hat with the jaunty green feather, which had gone missing from Willow’s attic all those days ago. Willow stared at it incredulously. It was like a crack of light in the darkness.
Willow looked up to see the ghostly queen not very far away, floating in the forest behind her – watching her, waiting … perhaps wondering what she would do next.
Willow nodded, then got to her feet and closed her eyes. She drew strength from somewhere deep inside, raised her palm to the sky, and concentrated on finding all that she had lost. It wasn’t just things: it was her friends, her courage, her self-belief … The girl who found lost things had lost herself … but not any longer.
There was a torrent from above, and the sound of a million spoons descending from nowhere, hitting the forest floor in a clamorous heap. These were followed by beds, and lost coats.
Suddenly a witch with a copper foot appeared and said, ‘Well now, child, took yeh long enough! Looks like me remedy worked after all!’
Willow didn’t respond. She just kept her eyes closed.
‘Keep going,’ said her grandmother’s voice, and she did.
Feathering came next.
‘Young Willow!’ he shouted. ‘What happened? I was fighting that beast …’
Willow allowed herself a small grin, but she kept her eyes closed as she concentrated. Then Oswin appeared, landing in her arms with an orange plop. ‘Wot choo go and makes me disappear likes that for? That’s no way to treat a body!’ he complained as he climbed down to the ground.
Next came Essential, pushing up her glasses with a frown.
Willow kept her eyes closed as she continued her search for Moreg and Nolin Sometimes – for their souls that were drifting between life and death, lost under the queen’s powerful grasp. It was hard. The queen did not want to let them go. Willow dropped to her knees. It was like her mind was wading through something thick and viscous; it sapped her energy, and she grew weak as she searched and searched.
‘You can do it,’ said Granny Flossy’s voice.
She could feel the traces of Sometimes. The queen was holding on tight, but Willow fought back. Her magic might not be the strongest or the most remarkable, but it was reliable, and it would be so again! Because this time she wouldn’t forget who she was, or what she could do. She pulled with her mind, as if holding on to a fraying rope for dear life. She felt what seemed like the thread that was Moreg, purple-tinged, and Sometimes, pale blue, and pulled and pulled … till finally they were free.
She opened her eyes, and there they were.
23
The Ferili Seed
Moreg’s and Sometimes’s sightless eyes turned back to normal.
‘Gadzooks!’ exclaimed the forgotten teller. ‘Am I pleased to see you!’
In his hands was the other mimic plant, which right then looked just like him, a small shadow of a man in a jar.
‘I didn’t know if you’d find it!’ he cried. ‘I hoped you would. I couldn’t be too obvious about it in my letter in case they found it and stopped it reaching you.’ He gave a dry, barking sort of laugh.
Willow grinned. She’d figured that was the case.
‘I’m glad to see you too,’ said Moreg. ‘I’m sorry I tried to prevent you from coming … I saw what was happening with your magic – I got a flash of it – and thought it would be best for me to come and get him, rather than risk your life. I knew you would get a handle on it, but I wanted you to have that time – not force you into this danger, like I did the last time.’
Willow touched the older witch’s hand, moved by her words. ‘You didn’t force me. But at least I understand now.’
‘How very touching,’ said the queen, suddenly joining them. ‘And I am pleased to see you restored to your full potential,’ she added, looking at Willow. ‘That will be better for my purposes.’
‘Enough of this,’ said Moreg. There was a clash of thunder, followed by a flash of lightning.
The queen seemed to smile. ‘Oh, I did wonder when the fearsome witch I had heard so much about would actually turn up. So it’s a fight you want, is that it?’
Suddenly there were dozens of red-eyed beasts circling them all, along with several white, spectral wolves.
‘I am, of course, always an obliging host …’ And, at that, the monstrous beasts began to advance on them.
Pimpernell rolled up her sleeves, coming to stand next to Moreg, her wood-fire eyes blazing. She waved her opal-topped cane threateningly. ‘We’re gonna unleash more fire down here than you’ve ever seen before.’
Essential raised her hands and tried to freeze the shadow beasts. It worked for about half a beat. ‘Run!’ she cried to Willow and Sometimes.
There was a piercing cry and suddenly Sprig appeared in raven form, a vine still tangled round one of his feet. Despite everything that had happened, Willow found she was relieved to see him – relieved that he had escaped Umbellifer’s restraints and made his way back to them.