Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief (4 page)

“Best doctors ever!” said Amy. The swelling around her eye had gone right down and even under the thick layer of green ointment he could see that it was less bruised. His dad was wriggling
his
bandaged foot around as though he'd only just discovered he had ankles.

Alfie was so exhausted he barely took notice of the strange views from the windows as they followed Emily back to the coach house. As she turned the handle of the door to the entrance hall she froze and quietly closed the door again.

“What is it?” Alfie's dad whispered. Raised voices were coming from the hall. Emily pointed to two spyholes in the door. Alfie and Amy stood on their tiptoes to peer through. Caspian was talking to someone Alfie couldn't quite see. The solicitor was dressed more strangely than usual. Instead of his Victorian-style suit, he wore a black tunic embellished with dark gems, long boots and a high-collared black cloak with delicate silver embroidery. A silver circlet rested on his raven black hair.

“I am grateful that you called us here to negotiate,” said a woman's voice. “But I am disappointed that you refuse to hand back what is rightfully mine. Especially while we hold one of your own. Tell me,” she stepped towards Caspian, “what is his life worth to you?”

Alfie could see her in full now. She was tall – as tall as Caspian – and she wore a long sky-blue dress
that
seemed to billow around her even though no wind was blowing. On her head was a crown made of delicate strands of gold twisted around shining gems.

“The Queen,” whispered Emily. “She's acting much more quickly than I thought.”

“
That's
the Queen?” Alfie burst out as he caught a glimpse of her face. “She's the one that shot Ashford!”

Emily said nothing, but Alfie felt a storm in her silence.

“We do not respond to threats,” said Caspian coolly.

“Maybe not. But now that we are here, what is to stop us from taking it?”

Alfie held back a yell as the elves she had brought with her surrounded Caspian. He recognized three of them as Ashford's attackers. “They're going to hurt Caspian!”

“No,” said Emily. “They're not. Now come on, they don't know that you have the lens. We can't risk them seeing you here.”

Alfie and Amy remained glued to the spyholes as the elves closed in menacingly on Caspian. Looking nonplussed, he snapped his fingers. The suits of armour around the walls creaked to life and
stepped
down from their stands. “I don't believe it!” said Amy as the empty suits marched towards the elves and grabbed their wrists. The screams were ear-piercing.

“Iron! You would dare to use iron against us?” screamed the Queen as her retinue struggled uselessly against the armour.

“Shall we start again – with a more civil discussion?” said Caspian. The suits of armour released the elves and marched back to their positions against the wall.

“Come on!” said Emily grabbing the back of their pyjamas and pulling them away from the spyholes. “We need to get you home, now!” She led them through a different door and back into the coach house. Johannes was waiting atop the coach, and another carriage stood next to his. It was green with incredibly ornate silverwork trailing around the doors and roof. A driver that could have been Johannes's twin brother was tending to the six pure white horses that pulled it. Alfie realized that it must have brought the elves from their realm. He remembered what Emily had said about the offices being multi-dimensional and suddenly the huge variety of strange carriages in the coachhouse began to make sense to him.

“
Quick, I've locked the door from reception, but you need to get out of here,” said Emily, hurrying them into Johannes' coach. Alfie grabbed her arm before she closed the door.

“Emily, I know they don't like each other, but Caspian
will
try his hardest to get Ashford back, won't he?”

Emily grasped his hand reassuringly. “He never does anything less, Alfie. The oak portal will be sealed when you return. Do not, however impatient you might feel, attempt to go through it.”

Alfie felt his dad grip his shoulders. “He won't.” It was as much a command as a statement.

The Black Mirror

“Oi, sleepyhead!”
Thud-thud-thud.

Alfie was wrenched awake by the sound of his cousin Madeleine hammering on his door and yelling through the keyhole. He could hear her brother Robin telling her off.

“Keep it down, Maddie. You're the most annoying alarm clock ever!”

Alfie wished that she had a snooze button as he rolled out of his huge four-poster bed and opened the door for the twins.

“Sorry, I tried to stop her barging up here,” Robin apologized as Madeleine bounced into the room. Alfie rubbed the sleep from his bleary eyes.

“
Your dad went food shopping,” said Madeleine, poking through the comics on Alfie's bedside table. “He gave us some money to go for lunch with you and Amy. You know it's after one o'clock? Is she still in bed too?”

“Maddie, come back!” called Robin as his sister dashed off to wake Amy. He threw his arms up. “I swear she gets more annoying every day. Meet you in the courtyard when you're ready,” he called back as he hurried after her.

Alfie dug out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and tried to remember where he had kicked his shoes. He'd never get used to such a huge bedroom. By the time he had showered and dressed, Amy and the twins were already lounging on the grass in the courtyard's garden. He was very glad to see that Amy's black eye was almost unnoticeable now. He loved the castle, but the gifts he had received from Orin, especially the ancient creation magic the druid had hidden inside him, seemed to keep bringing danger to people close to him.

“What's up with the tree?” asked Madeleine. Alfie had almost forgotten about the strange men that Caspian had brought with him to the castle last night, but it appeared that they had been hard at work. Three iron bands encircled the oak tree,
which
Alfie guessed were to prevent the elves from opening the portal from the other side again. On each band was an indentation that, before even looking, Alfie knew the talisman would fit into. The talisman was already a key for many things that Orin wanted him to be the only person to open, such as the druid's study and the great seal under the castle. It seemed he was now the guardian of the portal too. This was another lock he would never open.

Alfie and Amy filled the twins in on what had happened during the night. They were too shocked by Ashford's kidnapping to dwell on the revelation that he was a time-travelling thief too.

“So that's
all
Caspian is doing to get him back?” cried Madeleine. “Talking? There must be something
we
can do.” She leapt to her feet and began examining the bands around the tree. “Your talisman will open these, won't it? We could go after him. Me and Robin could bring our bows. We'll rescue him ourselves!”

“Sit down, Madeleine. You're not helping,” said Robin wearily. “Even if we could figure out how to open the portal ourselves, what are we going to do? Go up against a pack of armed elves? You're not going to shoot anyone and they'd know that.”

Alfie
felt grateful to Robin as Madeleine sat down, finally silent. He knew charging after Ashford could only end in disaster but wished there was
something
he could do.

“What's Leo up to?” asked Amy, breaking the grim silence. Galileo was stealthily creeping across the grass nearby. Crouching low with ears flat to his head, he began to wiggle his bottom.

“He's going to pounce,” said Alfie, recognizing the cat's hunting mode. Galileo suddenly shot forwards, leaping through the air to land in the middle of the herb patch. A large mouse shot out of the parsley, squeaking loudly. The cat darted after it as it scampered through the grass to disappear into a hole in the castle stonework. Galileo settled down in front of the hole. Alfie knew he'd be there for hours. He had seen the cat wait patiently for days when he was hunting. Watching Galileo waiting for his meal made Alfie realize just how hungry he was himself.

“Come on. Let's go for lunch.”

Gertie Entwhistle in the village bakery was delighted to see them, and Alfie began to feel better after one of her freshly baked steak pies.

“I'd have thought that butler of yours would be
horrified
at you eating anywhere but the castle,” said Gertie as they paid for their lunch and bought bags of orange tongue-twizzlers and sherbet fizzbombs from her little sweet shop at the front of the bakery.

“He's on holiday,” said Alfie, thinking quickly. He didn't want news of the attack getting around the village and telling Gertie would be like putting an announcement in the local paper.

“A holiday?” said Gertie in mock surprise. “I wish I could remember what those felt like. I could do with a butler around here. I just can't keep up with business these days.”

Alfie's dad was back with the shopping when they returned to the castle. He seemed to be trying overly hard to be jolly as they helped him unpack and stock the cupboards. It was the longest Alfie had seen him in the kitchen since they had moved to the castle, and it was clear he didn't have a clue where Ashford kept everything. Alfie could tell that Dad was still very uneasy. His eyes twitched to the window at every sound from the courtyard.

“I'm making lasagne tonight,” he called after them as they headed back outside. “Be in the Great Hall for six. I don't want to have to wander all over this place looking for you.”

Alfie
groaned as memories of his dad's bizarre cooking came flooding back.

In the courtyard Galileo was crouched on the cobbles beneath the oak with something between his paws.

“What have you got there, boy?” said Alfie, creeping towards the cat. With a quick flick of his paw Galileo sent the mouse he had been stalking sailing through the air and leapt up to catch it again.

“Bad cat!” cried Robin. Galileo paid no attention, letting the creature run a little way before trapping it with his paws again.

“He's just doing what cats do,” said Madeleine. “It's in his nature.”

“He's tormenting it!” said Robin, who could never bear to see an animal hurt.

Alfie crept towards the cat. Galileo growled as he closed in, picking up the mouse in his jaws and springing to his feet. Alfie leapt forwards just in time to grab him around his furry waist. “Quick, get the mouse!” he shouted, as Galileo writhed in his hands, scratching at his arms. Robin gently eased the cat's jaws open, releasing the mouse into Amy's waiting hands.

“Poor little fella,” said Amy, stroking the top of
the
mouse's head as she carried it into the castle. Galileo followed, trying to claw his way up her jeans to reach the trembling creature. Alfie pulled him off her.

“What's wrong with you?” He deposited the cat in the kitchen next to his food bowl. “Anyone would think we were starving you!” He shut the door, leaving the cat to yowl his frustration at his lost prize.

“The mouse is OK,” said Robin. “But we should keep an eye on him for a while before we let him go.”

“There's an old birdcage in Artan's room,” said Alfie. “Come on. We can put him in there.”

The cage proved to be very suitable. It was nice and big, and the bars were close enough together to stop the mouse slipping out between them. They even found some straw to line it with. Artan floated over to see what they were doing as they placed the mouse inside with some sunflower seeds and a jam-jar lid filled with water.

“What type of mouse is that?” he asked.

“A common field mouse, I think,” said Alfie.

Artan took a long hard sniff. “Smells funny.”

“That's because Leo slobbered all over him,” said Amy.

“
Do you even have a sense of smell?” asked Alfie.

“That's right,” rumbled Artan. “Mock the poor old hollowed-out bear. I'll have you know you couldn't pick a better nose than mine. Go on, give it a try.”

“Urgh. Get away!” Alfie pushed the bear's cold nose away as it nudged his cheek.

“I will if you give me an in-
scent
-ive. Get it?” He did a little flip in the air as he cracked up laughing at his own puns.

The bear's jolly mood changed completely when Alfie recounted the attack of the night before. He became more and more agitated, swooshing around the room knocking masks and paintings off the wall in his clumsy rage.

“They came in here – to our
home
– and harmed one of our own? We should fly straight into their lands and give them a taste of fear!”

“Calm down,” said Alfie, grasping the bear's paw and pulling him down. “You sound like Maddie. We're not going after them.”

“Well, we should at least be prepared in case they come back,” he growled.