‘And was it?’ asked Willow.
‘For getting some impressive bruises – very.’
They shared a grin.
There was a small passageway to the left that led to a set of stone stairs. Willow stopped. ‘Maybe we should go this way …’
They all nodded. As curious as Willow was to see the rest of the castle they needed to get to the kitchen. ‘Come on, we need to find the pantry to get to Moreg.’
The others followed her down the stairs, which led to a basement kitchen. They raced inside, passing a massive wooden table and an old forest-green range.
Through a separate door to the side they found the enormous pantry. ‘Here,’ Willow said as they entered.
It was filled with dozens of shelves and on either side were steps that Willow guessed must lead to a set of cellars. ‘It’ll be one of these,’ said Willow, guessing aloud. ‘Our first night away, while we were camping, she said she’d left something in her other cellar … which means the portal must only work on one side,’ she concluded.
They were about to turn and look at the other cellar when she saw something she recognised.
‘Hang on,’ said Willow seeing a fold-up chair, along with an iron pot, a table and two broomsticks – including Whisper! ‘It must be around here somewhere,’ she said. She placed her hands against the wall, feeling all along the surface. It had to be here – it had to! Then suddenly her fingers pressed straight through the stone until she was touching something soft and silken – like the lining inside a cloak. ‘It’s here!’ She shot her friends a nervous look and said, ‘I’ll go first.’
Sometimes looked a little anxious himself. ‘We’ll be right behind you,’ he reassured her.
Willow took a deep breath, picked up the bag with Oswin inside and then pushed her way through the wall and the fabric.
She found herself tumbling down until she landed in a heap on a stone floor in a dark and dusty room, Oswin protesting loudly.
‘Keep it down,’ Willow hissed, rubbing her head. She glanced up and saw that the cloak had been hanging from a hook above her.
But where was Moreg?
Willow stood up, just as Sometimes fell through the cloak, followed closely by Essential, who landed on top of him, her glasses askew. ‘Ouch!’ they both muttered.
Disentangling himself, Sometimes crossed the room and made a funny noise. Soon Willow and Essential could see why. On the floor one of the Brothers was sprawled on to his back, a purplish lump on his forehead.
‘Knocked out,’ confirmed Sometimes, his eyes going glassy and rolling back as the memory washed over him. A moment later, while his eyes were clouded and white, he continued. ‘He’s a prison guard. They locked Moreg up here in this dungeon, and she waited until he came inside, then she hit him over the head with a pot from her pantry and stole his keys. The last thing the guard saw before he passed out was that she left her cloak on the peg. She must have done that so that we’d be able to find her,’ he said, just as a giant troll foot was making its way out of the cloak’s folds.
‘Rather clever,’ came a voice from behind them, accompanied by a smattering of mocking applause.
‘Oh no,’ moaned Oswin.
Willow spun round to find that several Brothers of Wol, including the High Master, were making their way into the room.
‘Oh dear,’ said Sometimes, falling over into a dead faint.
19
Magic in Wolkana
A group of priests crowded into the cell and a spotty-faced Brother, who looked vaguely familiar, stepped forward. ‘Burn it,’ he commanded.
‘What?’ said the High Master with a puzzled frown as one of the Brothers seized a candle that was hanging in a sconce on the wall and flung it at the cloak. It set alight instantly.
‘Stop!’ shouted Willow.
Essential raised her hands and they watched as the flames paused for almost a full second, long enough for them to see the massive troll foot disappear back, followed by Feathering’s golden eye, which had been peering at them from within the folds of the cloak.
Willow sagged in relief, glad that Calamity and Feathering had retreated to safety before the cloak went up in flames. But relief was replaced with despair as she watched their only means of escape go up in smoke.
‘We can’t have you using that again,’ said the Brother, seeming to sense her thoughts.
Looking at him properly, Willow recognised him as the one who’d run away from her and Moreg to fetch the High Master in Beady Hill.
‘See here, missy,’ said the High Master now, his black pebble-like eyes wide. ‘I’m not sure what your business is. If you think that you’ve come to kidnap our …’ He looked around, his face going slack in surprise when he saw the guard on the floor. ‘What on Great Starfell?! What’s happened? Where is Moreg Vaine? What have you done with her?’ he demanded of Willow. The High Master’s eyes trailed to the charred remains of the cloak. ‘Did she escape? Did you see what happened?’
The young Brother came forward and placed a hand on the High Master’s shoulder. ‘There’s nothing to worry about; it’s all been taken care of – the witch has been moved …’
‘Moved?’ said the High Master, blinking. Willow could see the confusion in his small, dark eyes.
‘What is going on here? What is this?’ he asked.
‘Nothing for you to worry about,’ soothed the Brother, patting the High Master’s shoulder. ‘Easily explained …’
The High Master blinked, his eye falling on Sometimes, who was still lying passed out on the floor alongside the knocked-out guard. ‘But why was she moved? Why wasn’t I told?’
Nolin Sometimes’s eyes were large and glassy and a faint whisper escaped his lips, ‘The boy … the boy used the spell for his second attempt to seize the post of High Master.’
‘What?’ gasped the High Master. ‘What did he just say?’
‘The boy used the spell for his second attempt to seize the post of High Master,’ Sometimes repeated before his eyes closed and he fell back into a dead faint.
The High Master bent down and tried to wake up Sometimes, but he was out for the count. ‘Ludicrous, why would someone say such a thing …? A spell? Magic in Wolkana? What nonsense. Seizing power? I am the High Master. No one would try such a thing. I think this man might be unwell.’
The younger spotty-faced Brother nodded. ‘Yes, that must be it. Quite unwell. I think perhaps you should take him to the infirmary, and then we can deal with these, er, children, and their friends with their peculiar tales when you return.’ Two Brothers stepped forward to pick up Nolin Sometimes, and the High Master nodded. ‘Yes, maybe that’s best, Silas,’ he said, turning to go with them.
Willow tensed. Silas? The words from the memory flower reverberated inside her skull. The boy called Silas cast the spell hidden within the fortress.
She gasped, then looked at Sometimes, who was still unconscious.
‘Wait,’ said Willow, her mind working fast. ‘He’s a forgotten teller – one who sees the past – and he saw that a boy – Silas – used a spell that stole last Tuesday, a spell that could end up destroying the world if we don’t fix it. You have to help us, please.’