Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief (15 page)

“Let's go,” said Ashford. Crumbling mortar was beginning to trickle down from the arched doorway.

“We left our bows in your room,” said Madeleine. “I'll grab them.” She darted ahead as the front door shuddered and a branch sprouted upwards, splitting the wood almost from floor to ceiling.

“Alfie, Robin, come and help me!” Amy cried. Ashford had stumbled on the stairs. As Amy pulled him to his feet, Alfie could see that his face was sickly grey.

“You go ahead,” said Robin as they managed to lift Ashford on to Artan's back. “I'll grab the rest of the iron bombs!”

Alfie had no time to argue as Robin ran towards the workshop.

“
Be quick!” he yelled back, but he was drowned out by two stone blocks crashing to the floor. The wooden doors mutated and twisted upwards as the wood seemed to remember its original tree form, tearing bricks and mortar apart as it stretched out its branches. Alfie could see hands reaching through the gap as the trees began to part.

“Let's move!” growled Artan. Alfie and Amy hurried along beside him as he carried Ashford up the stairs and along the corridor to the library. The elves' shouts and cheers echoed up through the entrance hall as the opening grew.

“Where's Robin?” panted Madeleine as she joined them, bows and quivers bouncing on her shoulder.

“Grabbing more arrows,” said Alfie, hurrying to the panelled wall and opening the secret door to Orin's study with his talisman.

Artan floated through first, closely followed by Galileo who had come barrelling after them when he heard the destruction in the hall.

“Maddie, come on,” said Amy, pulling at her arm. Madeleine looked as though she wanted to rush downstairs to find Robin. The shouting from the hall was more excited now. “They must be nearly through – get in here.”

Alfie
helped Ashford slide from Artan's back and into Orin's armchair, then wrapped the blanket that hung over the back of the chair around him. Madeleine was still in the library, watching out for Robin.

Alfie grasped the mirror again and said, “Entrance Hall.” His heart dropped as he saw the hall strewn with rubble. The ancient doors had become two great trees, their branches forming a perfect archway – an archway that the Queen now walked through triumphantly, followed by her small army.

“Maddie, we need to close the door,” called Ashford weakly.

“Not without Robin. He'll be here any second.”

“He won't, Maddie,” said Alfie, holding out the mirror to show her a tiny Robin looking frantically around a room hung with tools. “See, he's still in the workshop; he can't get through the hall without them seeing him. We need to close the door.” He hated saying it, but he knew Robin wouldn't want them to risk their safety for his.

Madeleine pulled back as Alfie took her arm and tried to drag her through the passageway. “We can't leave him,” she cried.

“Maddie, we've got no choice—” Alfie stopped as
the
walkie talkie he had clipped back on to his belt beeped loudly: Robin must still have his with him.

“Robin?” he said into the radio.

“Alfie, I'm stuck here,” whispered Robin's voice. “Don't wait for me.”

“Robin,” cried Madeleine, snatching the radio from Alfie. “We're not closing the door until you get here.”

“You've got to, Maddie,” said Robin. “Don't worry about me. I've locked the door, and if they get in I've got somewhere to hide. Look in the mirror if you don't believe me.”

Alfie held the black mirror out to Madeleine. Robin was waving as though not quite sure where they would be watching him from.

“See?” he said, lifting the top of the window seat to reveal a storage space. “I'll be OK.”

Madeleine let out a choked sob. “Just stay hidden, Robin. We'll find a way to help you. I promise!”

Madeleine finally let Alfie pull her inside. The panel slid shut as the sounds of elves rampaging through the castle grew closer. Alfie gave Amy a nod and she swiftly closed the inner door, shutting them safely into the secret room.

They
spent the next hour huddled together on the rug by Ashford's feet, watching the mirror. Alfie flinched at each loud noise as the elves rampaged through the castle, turning rooms upside down in their search for the talisman and the castle's occupants. It filled him with fury to watch them rummaging through his things. Polluting
his
home with their presence.

The battery on Robin's radio was running low, so they had agreed not to talk unless it was essential. Galileo was curled up on one of Orin's highest shelves, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on Artan who had come to rest on the back of the armchair where Ashford was sitting. After many months the cat seemed to have realized that Artan wasn't going to eat him, but this was the closest he had ever been to the dog-like bear and he wasn't taking any chances.

Sick of watching the elves, Alfie let Madeleine take the mirror to Orin's desk where she sat hunched over it, watching Robin like a hawk. He adjusted the blanket over Ashford. The butler seemed to be in a half faint. His skin was clammy and his face almost grey. Alfie was seriously worried about him. He lit a fire in the hearth and fanned the flames with an old set of bellows.

Amy
removed her star-printed neck scarf and moistened it from a bottle of water she had managed to grab during the dash from the Great Hall. She dabbed Ashford's forehead with the damp cloth. Alfie fought the urge to tell her not to waste water, wondering how long the little bottle would have to last.

A crash from the library made them all jump and roused Ashford a little.

“It's OK,” the butler whispered. “They won't find us in here.”

Alfie silently fought Madeleine for the mirror as she watched a group of elves searching the ground floor, getting closer and closer to the room where Robin was hiding.

“Library,” he whispered. Madeleine and Amy looked over his shoulders as the mirror revealed a fisheye view of the library. Five elves were creeping among the shelves, arrows nocked to their bows as they searched. Alfie held his breath as they reached the wall with the secret door, feet away from where they all sat in Orin's study. He clasped Artan's jaws to stop him from growling, but the elves were more interested in the fireplace, looking up the large chimney to see if anyone was hiding up there. Finally satisfied, they filed out of the library leaving one elf
behind
to stand guard. He stretched and settled into one of the cosy chairs near the fireplace, taking occasional swigs from a silver flask on his hip.

“What is
she
doing?” asked Ashford weakly. Alfie tried the Great Hall first. One of the grand carved chairs had been dragged from the head of the dining table to the centre of the room. The Queen sat regally on her new throne directing the elves in their search. She was wearing a delicate silver crown studded with several large gems.

“Get your hands off that,” Alfie muttered under his breath as one of the elves found the silver sparrow on the table and brought it to the Queen. She wound it up and clapped her hands in delight as it flew around the room and returned to her. She tapped it on the top of its head and it sidled up her arm to sit on her shoulder, where it began to preen its wings.

“How did she do that?” asked Amy.

“The same way that she got through the front door,” winced Ashford.

“You're saying she brought the bird to life?” said Alfie, eyes wide.

“Not exactly. But I doubt it will ever need to be wound again.” The butler slumped forwards as though even speaking was too much for him.

Alfie
eased him back into the chair and felt for his pulse. He wasn't sure what it should feel like, but it didn't seem strong. Amy poured some of the water into a little cup and held it to his lips. Ashford sipped weakly.

“Is there anything we can do for you?” she asked.

“There's only one person that can help me,” said Ashford, wiping away the drops that had trickled down his chin. “The druid.”

“You mean Orin?” said Alfie. “Caspian told us about you being able to timeslip too. Can you go back and get his help?”

Ashford shook his head weakly. “The pain is too distracting; I'm too weak to focus.”

“Then teach me!” said Alfie. “I'll ask Orin for something to help you. Maybe he'll have a way to help us all.”

“But you've only ever managed it by accident,” said Ashford. “It took me months of practice to control the ability, and yours works differently to mine. What if it goes wrong?”

“Then I'm lucky I have you to guide me through it,” said Alfie, fixing Ashford with a firm stare.

The butler smiled weakly. “I assume there's no point in arguing?”

Alfie
shook his head.

“Then I'll try. But first, let me give you a message for Orin. Please, bring me some paper.”

Alfie grabbed a blank notebook from Orin's desk where Madeleine was still huddled over the mirror.

“You can dictate to me, if you like?”

Ashford shook his head. “It's safer if you don't know what I am going to ask of him.” He winced in pain as he began to write.

“They're trying to get into the workshop!” cried Madeleine suddenly. “They're going to find Robin.” In the blackness of the mirror, three elves were throwing themselves against the workshop door. Madeleine changed the view to the workshop. Robin was climbing into the window seat. He reached up and made an OK sign for the benefit of anyone watching before lowering the lid.

Madeleine yelped as the door crashed open and elves spilled into the workshop. Alfie held his breath as he watched them stalk carefully around the iron tools, prodding the ticking and spinning devices that his dad had been working on. Two of them investigated the adjoining forge, while the other lingered near where Robin was hiding.

“They're going to find him!” said Madeleine, her fingers gripping Alfie's arm so tightly he had to grit
his
teeth to stop himself shouting out. The two that had searched the forge returned and nodded to the third who reluctantly sat down on the window seat as they left the room.

“They're leaving him on guard,” said Amy. “Robin won't be able to leave.”

“But he's got to get out!” cried Madeleine. “He'll run out of air!”

“He'll be OK for a few hours at least,” said Ashford. “As long as he stays calm. And we know Robin is good at that.”

“Maybe the guard won't stay that long,” added Alfie. “I'm sure he'll be fine.” But the thought of Robin cooped up in the stuffy box with one of the elves sitting on the lid made him feel short of breath himself.

“Hurry, Ashford. We need to do this now.”

Ashford tore out the page he had been writing on, folded it and passed it to Alfie.

“If you can get this to Orin it might help us all. Give him this too.” He pulled something from his pocket. Alfie took the small, worn velvet pouch. He felt sure he had seen one like it before.

“What is it?”

“Something I need Orin to fix for me. Now, are you ready?”

Alfie
nodded.

“OK. Close your eyes,” said Ashford softly. “Let everything but my voice slip away. Picture this room, but imagine Orin here. Imagine yourself being pulled back through into the past.”

Alfie tried to do as Ashford asked, but visions of the elves stalking through his home kept slipping back into his mind. He drove them out and tried again.

“Focus, Alfie. You belong in Orin's time as much as this one, so for you to travel back I imagine you just need to relax and allow yourself to slip through time, as though you are going home.”

It was easy for Ashford to say, but however much Alfie tried to relax, random thoughts and fears kept slipping into his head. It was starting to hurt. How could he just slip through time? It seemed impossible.

“Let's try something different,” said Ashford at last. “Open your eyes. Remember the last two times you slipped?”

Alfie could hardly forget. The first time was when he was almost hit by a car. The second was when he lost consciousness as Murkle and Snitch chased him through a dark network of caves.

“What was the feeling you had in both of those moments?”

“
I was scared. I knew I had to get out of there.”

“More than that. What did you feel deep inside?”

Alfie thought hard, putting himself back in his own shoes. “I remember hearing my own heartbeat in my head. Time seemed to stretch out.”

“Good. What else?”

“It was like those were my final seconds. I wanted to be some place else more than anything in the world. Then I got that feeling. You know, like when you're falling asleep and think you're falling, then you jerk awake? It was like that.”

Ashford smiled. “Then that's the feeling you need to recreate. Close your eyes again.”

Alfie did as he asked, hoping that Ashford knew what he was talking about.

“Now, notice your stomach. Remember the coldness that gripped it when you were running through the caves, when the car was speeding towards you?” Alfie let the sensation flow through him. “And your heart, feel it beating faster in your chest. Hear the blood pounding in your ears. Really feel it: the fear, the helplessness, the car screeching towards you.”

Alfie was trying as hard as he could. He could feel his heart beating faster and an icy chill in his stomach. He was trying to imagine Murkle and
Snitch
howling their way through the caves after him, but a little voice in his head kept reminding him that it wasn't real; he wasn't in danger. He tried to ignore it as he pictured himself back in the middle of the road, frozen in fear as he saw the horrified face of the driver in the car screeching towards him. He remembered his thoughts. It wasn't going to stop. It was going to hit him: he was going to die. At that moment something struck his chest so hard he went flying backwards.