Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief (12 page)

“How do you know? You haven't even tried.”

“Calm down, Maddie,” said Robin impatiently.

“Don't you dare tell me to calm down,” she shouted. “At least I'm trying to think of something!”

“
Maddie, it won't work because the magic feeds on energy or life,” said Alfie. “This mist, it seems … dead.”

“He's right,” said Amy.

“So we're just supposed to sit here until someone rescues us? Like … like fairy-tale princesses?” Madeleine slumped down into a chair and picked angrily at the embroidered armrests, completely removing a small hummingbird.

“Maybe that's the
best
-case scenario,” said Amy softly. “If nothing can get out, I bet nothing can get in either.”

“So there's no one to help us?” said Madeleine.

The thought had run through Alfie's head and he had already reached the same terrible conclusion: they were on their own.

A Daring Rescue

Alfie and Robin changed out of their Beltane tunics and into ordinary clothes in Alfie's bedroom. The realization they were trapped, with no hope of rescue, had cast a grim silence over everyone.

They headed to Amy's room where she was pinching together the sides of a hole in Artan's back. Madeleine was expertly stitching it together, grimacing as she tugged the long needle through the tough leather of the bear's hide.

“Done,” she said at last, snipping the nylon thread and patting the bear's fur back into place as Artan twisted his neck around to admire her
handiwork.
Alfie couldn't even see where the hole had been.

“You're a fine surgeon, lassie,” Artan commented. Madeleine managed only the tiniest of smiles.

“I've been thinking,” said Alfie. “If no one is coming for us, we need to get Ashford away from
them
, and we need to do it quickly.”

“I'll help,” said Artan immediately. “I can swoop down and grab him.”

“The elves are all around him,” said Robin. “You wouldn't be able to get in and out quickly enough.”

“We could create a distraction,” said Amy. “It would need to be a big one though.”

“What if we split up and throw things down at them from the battlements and the towers?” suggested Madeleine.

“Too dangerous,” said Alfie. “You've seen how quick they are with their arrows.” He thought hard.
What could distract the elves long enough for Artan to rescue Ashford, without putting everyone in danger?

“Robin. Those arrows you shot at the sprite. Do you have any more?”

Robin pulled two from his quiver. “There are more in your dad's workshop.”

Alfie took one of the arrows. It was quite heavy and had a roughly cast bulbous metal tip. He shook
it.
Something that sounded like sand was packed inside the tip. He remembered the sprite's reaction when the arrow had exploded over him and suddenly realized what Robin had done.

“You filled them with iron filings?” he laughed.

Robin grinned.

“You're a genius! So
that's
what you and Dad were making. OK – Maddie, Robin, I'm going to need you two to create a distraction by shooting from the windows in the armoury. They're not going to like these at all!”

“I'm not sure how well I'll be able to shoot,” said Madeleine, weighing an arrow in her hand. “These are really unbalanced!”

“You managed fine firing those wadded arrows at the wicker man yesterday,” said Robin. “And we won't need to be too accurate.” He fitted one of the arrows to the bow Alfie had given him. “Just hit a hard surface near them. When the arrowhead breaks, the iron will do all the work. Come on, help me grab the rest.”

As well as the arrows, there was a smaller crate in the workshop filled with metal balls. Each was a little bigger than a ping-pong ball and sealed with a small cork stopper. They made the same swishing noise as the arrows when Alfie shook them.

“
Careful. They're fragile,” said Robin, loading them into his backpack while Madeleine filled their quivers with arrows.

“Keep away from the windows,” said Alfie as they headed back into the little armoury. “OK, here's the plan. While Maddie and Robin cause a distraction with the arrows, I'll be behind the upper battlements waiting for the right moment to send Artan down. Artan, you'll need to leave from your room so they don't see you coming. There's a gap between the outer walls and the mist. Fly down and float just outside the courtyard walls. I'll give a blast on your whistle when it's time for you to go in. You've got to be quick. Then grab Ashford and take him straight back to your tower.”

The bear bobbed his head and gave a little salute.

“What about me?” asked Amy.

“I need you to go with Artan to his tower and wait there to help Ashford when he gets back.”

Amy looked a little reluctant to miss the action but didn't argue.

“You be careful out there, Al,” she said as she hopped on to Artan's back.

“Take these,” said Robin, reaching into his backpack and offering Alfie and Amy a walkie-talkie
each.
“I've got three. They still work; I think it's because they're all within the mist dome.”

“Let us know when Artan is in place,” said Alfie. “And when he gets back with Ashford.”

“Will do.” Amy clipped the device to her belt.

“Ready, m'lady?” said Artan.

“Yup, let's go.”

As Artan zoomed away through the castle towards his tower, Alfie heard Amy's distant voice add, “And don't ever call me lady!”

Alfie swallowed hard as he looked up and spotted the arrow Merioch had shot through the window and into the rafters. He took a chain-mail tunic from one of the wooden mannequins. “We should put these on,” he told the twins. “The windows are tiny, but the elves are
really
good shots.”

“Hmph. So are we!” said Madeleine, strapping on an archer's leather wristguard she had found with the armour.

As they finished pulling on the chain mail, the radio crackled to life.

Amy's voice came through the walkie-talkie as Alfie picked it up. “Ready when you are.”

“Stand by,” said Alfie. “Ready?” he asked the twins. They both gave him the thumbs up as he silently unlocked the door that led outside.

“
Take these with you, Alfie.” Robin handed over his backpack containing the small metal balls. “Iron bombs. For emergencies.”

Alfie took the backpack and crawled out on to the battlements, keeping to a low crouch to remain hidden. About halfway across, he raised his head to peek through one of the gaps. The elves were back around the fire and didn't seem to be acting with any kind of urgency since their ultimatum. Had they just assumed Alfie would give in? He couldn't wait to show them otherwise.

Ashford was sitting against one of the fruit trees in the courtyard garden. He seemed too weak to move. The two elves guarding him were paying more attention to a game that involved something that looked like small bleached animal bones than they were to their prisoner.

Alfie turned to the armoury where he could see Madeleine in position at her window. He gave her the OK sign with his fingers. She nodded and released the first arrow.

A piercing screech echoed up from the courtyard, followed by angry cries and scrabbling noises. Crouching close to the floor, Alfie noticed a drainage hole in the stonework and lay down to look through it. The elves were falling over each
other
to grab their bows and arrows. Several were leaping around brushing the filings off their skin and out of their hair. Three of them raised their bows to point at where Madeleine and Robin were shooting from, but they were too slow. Two more arrows smashed into the wall beside them, the tips exploding into a shower of black dust. The elves dropped their bows and flapped at themselves as if they had caught fire.

Alfie smiled grimly to see the small army in complete disarray as the twins kept the arrows flying.
That'll teach you to invade my castle
, he thought to himself. The elves guarding Ashford finally left his side to help the others. Alfie raised the silver whistle to his lips and blew a silent blast on it. A dark shadow swooped over the far wall and down to where Ashford lay.

Alfie held his breath as Artan nudged the butler with his nose. He seemed barely conscious.

“Come on, Ashford,” Alfie whispered, willing him to move before the twins ran out of arrows. Finally Ashford roused himself enough to shuffle on to the bear's back. Artan tried to take off but the butler slid from his back, unable to hold on with his hands tied. Alfie's heart was in his mouth as the bear gnawed the ropes that bound Ashford's
hands.
The elves were hiding behind trees, planters and stone benches, and still hadn't noticed Artan freeing their captive. None of them seemed to want to risk being caught in the iron rain. There was no sign of their leader, Merioch, and without him the others seemed unable to take control of the situation.

Ashford's bonds fell away. As he began to pull himself back on to Artan's back there was a flash of blue from the oak. Merioch stepped out of the portal, his cold eyes immediately assessing the scene. He darted around the tree as an arrow hit the spot where he had been standing.

“Fools! Look to your prisoner!” he shouted as Artan rose carefully into the air. Ashford was holding on tightly with his one good arm.

“Bring him down!” The elves dashed out of hiding, seemingly more scared of their leader than showers of searing iron.

Artan was moving as fast as he could, but it wasn't quick enough. He had to keep Ashford from falling. Alfie looked to Madeleine. She pointed to her empty quiver. “We're all out,” she mouthed.

The elves raised their bows against Artan. An idea hit Alfie as he noticed their backs were to the fire. Reaching into Robin's backpack he grabbed
some
of the iron bombs and hurled them down into the courtyard. Two missed, but four landed in the fire, exploding spectacularly. The flames roared up like a gigantic sparkler, spitting masses of flaming sparks at the shrieking elves. Alfie could hardly believe the chaos he had caused. He watched delightedly as Artan whizzed up over the castle's rooftops with Ashford safely on board.

Undaunted by the flames and stinging iron, Merioch rolled away from the fire to grab his bow. Alfie was suddenly very aware that his head was completely visible. He dropped to the floor as an arrow whistled through the battlements. The elf continued to fire arrow after arrow in rapid succession. They bounced off the stonework, clattering down around Alfie as he crawled back into the tower on his elbows. Madeleine and Robin had pulled back from their posts at the windows. They rushed over to slam the door behind him, bolting it shut as arrows thudded into the woodwork on the other side.

The radio crackled again.

“We got him!” Amy shouted, so loudly that Alfie almost dropped the receiver. The twins let out a loud cheer then dived to the ground as an arrow flew through the tiny window slit, scraping
Madeleine's
chain mail as it passed between them.

“Let's get out of here!” said Alfie, as more arrows clattered off the castle wall just outside the windows.

As they hurried down the corridor to Artan's tower, the tapestry that covered the entrance swept aside. Amy held it back as Artan floated carefully through the doorway carrying Ashford, his head resting on the bear's as if it were a pillow. His eyes were open and he smiled weakly to see Alfie and the twins by his side.

“Ashford, it's really you,” cried Alfie. He clasped the butler's good arm, trying to hide his shock at his haggard appearance. Ashford's usually beaming face was drawn and bruised, his eyes bloodshot and ringed with dark circles. “Artan, bring him to my room. He can use my bed.”

Ashford groaned as Artan carefully landed on Alfie's huge four-poster bed. Alfie and Amy helped to slide him off the bear and propped him up against the pillows.

“It's good to be home,” he croaked in an attempt at cheeriness as Amy and the twins fussed around him.

“
How badly hurt are you?” asked Alfie, his eyes dropping to the stained bandages wrapped poorly around Ashford's shoulder under his torn shirt.

“I'll live,” said Ashford, wincing as Amy and Robin helped him off with his tattered shirt and began to unwrap the bandages. “But my wellbeing wasn't exactly their top priority. They—Argh!” he cried out as the last of the bandages was peeled away from his shoulder. Alfie fought the urge to turn away at the sight and sickly smell of the dark wound.

“That doesn't look good,” said Amy, glancing at Alfie as Ashford closed his eyes and winced in pain. “He needs a doctor.”

Alfie looked around helplessly and spotted a little pot on his bedside table. He grabbed it. “This is the last of the ointment that the doctors put on us at Muninn and Bone. Maybe it will help?”