Beneath (13 page)

“Finn?” Jess called softly, and again, “Finn?”

After a few seconds she heard sounds of movement from the trees at the far side of the pond, and he was there suddenly, looking at her a little warily.

“I’ll come round,” he called, and she lost sight of him for a few seconds.

“I thought you would have seen sense and changed your mind by morning,” he said with a tentative smile as he got close.

“Of course not!” she retorted, stung that he could think that of her. “I brought you this.” She held the jacket out to him.

He put it on gratefully.

“And a knife; you’ll need a knife wherever you’re going.” She handed it over with the rest of the things she’d brought him.

They stood silently then, until Finn said, “You should go now. You might get back before anyone realises you’ve gone.”

Jess knew there was no hope of that, but she wasn’t going to let her mind dwell on what would happen on her return.

“We should both go,” she said, managing to return his smile. “So… I suppose we should say goodbye.”

“Yes.”

“Will I see you again?” She had tried not to ask, but in the end it was impossible.

Finn tried to think of something to say that wasn’t simply
no
.

Jess took a step towards him.

“Good luck,” she said. “Stay safe. Don’t forget me, will you?”

“There’s no chance of that,” he said, and then his face changed and, without warning, he reached for her and pulled her into his arms. Jess gasped, taken by surprise, but didn’t resist. Finn held her so tight that she could feel his heart beating, and for a second she thought he was going to kiss her. Then she saw his expression, fierce and watchful, focused somewhere behind her. She turned her head to see a blur of dark fur disappearing into the trees.

“What was that?” Jess asked, afraid that she already knew.

“A wolf.” Finn was pulling her back from the pool as he spoke.

“Like the ones you saved me from before?” She looked around wildly.

He nodded. He was watching the pool intently, backing away from it, his hand on her arm.

Why was he watching the pool? Surely the danger was among the trees?

“Finn?”

He didn’t answer, clutching her arm more tightly instead. Following his gaze, she saw the surface of the pool seething like a pot of boiling soup.

Finn swore under his breath and hauled her properly into the trees.

“What is it? What’s happening?” she hissed in a terrified whisper.

He didn’t answer, but there was no need. She could see for herself.

Three, four, five black heads broke the surface of the water, thickly furred, yellow-eyed. Five black wolves swam to the shallows and stalked out of the pool, shaking water from their coats. They stared towards the trees where Finn and Jess stood. Five muzzles rose, scenting the air.

“Run,” said Finn.

Jess ran. By her side, holding tightly to her hand, Finn kept pace with her easily. She had never run faster in her life, but she knew with awful certainty that it wasn’t going to be fast enough. There were no climbable trees here to offer them refuge. The nearest point of safety was the farm itself.

Her breath was burning in her lungs, muscles labouring. The wolves couldn’t have come after them straight away or surely they would already have caught up? Perhaps they hadn’t followed them after all…

She heard a howl close behind her and abandoned that idea.

Finn was shouting something to her, pulling at her hand.

“Stop! You have to stop.”

“You’re mad!” she shrieked. “They’ll tear us apart.”

She saved the rest of her breath for running. Finn kept shouting.

“We’re not fast enough like this. We have to stop so I can change. I can outrun them as a horse, even carrying you. Stop! It’s our only chance.”

She skidded to a halt among the slushy leaves.

He let go of her hand and closed his eyes.

Every muscle in Jess’s body urged her to run. She ignored them and waited, watching Finn.

He was utterly still and then… And then he simply
flowed
into the form of the horse. However hard she tried afterwards, she couldn’t think of any better way to explain it.

The dark horse stood beside her. As she reached out a hand to its mane, she saw the first of the wolves appear among the pines behind them.

She knotted her hand in Finn’s mane, preparing to scramble up, and found that she was already astride his broad back. She felt the horse’s muscles bunch beneath her and it sprang away as the first wolf leapt. Jess clung to Finn’s mane, pressed as flat to his spine as was possible, aware of branches whipping past above her and the sound of the wolves behind them. She didn’t dare turn round to see how close they were.

She was terrified, but at the same time exhilarated. Their wild careering progress was faster than anything she’d ever known, yet she didn’t believe for a second that Finn would stumble, or take a path that would endanger her.

If he could just outrun the wolves…

Jess risked a look back and could no longer see the wolves. She expected Finn to slow down, but his pace didn’t slacken. They’d reach the farm soon. He had to stop before that, or someone would see him. She began to shout at him to slow down, but he ignored her. Or maybe he didn’t understand her when he was in horse form?

She could see the farm buildings now; the wolves were out of sight. She yelled at Finn over and over to stop, but he kept going. He jumped the fence into the farmyard and slid to a halt near the kitchen door, and suddenly Jess was stumbling as her feet hit the ground and a hand grabbed her arm to steady her; Finn, back in human form, panting for breath.

“Get inside,” he gasped. “These are no ordinary wolves. Get inside.”

“You’ve got to get away again. Go! Quickly!”

The barn door opened.

Magnus appeared, drawn out by the sound of hooves in the yard. He took in the scene in front of him and reached an inevitable, wrong conclusion.

“Let her go!” he yelled, and ran towards them.

Six wolves swerved around the edge of the stable and stopped.

And Ashe stepped out of the stable door.

Time seemed to slow.

Magnus had almost reached Jess and Finn when he heard Jess scream, “Ashe – get back inside!” and turned to follow her gaze.

The wolves looked at Ashe.

Finn closed his eyes, ignoring Magnus, ignoring Jess, and concentrated on changing…

…and the black horse shot across the yard to where Ashe stood petrified in front of the wolves.

One of the wolves sprang, crashed into the solid bone and muscle of the horse and was kicked aside.

Ashe reached an uncertain hand out to the horse; the world twisted round him, and he was on its back and moving through a rush of wind to the frozen figures of Jess and Magnus near the farmhouse door. Just as suddenly he was on the ground again and Finn was yelling urgently.

“Get inside!”

Magnus scooped Ashe off his feet and they all piled into the kitchen. Over Magnus’s shoulder, Ashe saw the wolves racing towards them just before the door slammed shut.

Finn was still yelling.

“Close the shutters or they’ll break in through the windows. Close the shutters.”

“What just happened out there?” Magnus demanded, staring at Finn in utter disbelief, but such was the urgency in Finn’s voice that he hurried to close the kitchen shutters. As he dropped the bar that secured them a wolf crashed against the door.

“The other rooms,” Finn went on. “Close all the shutters and lock the doors.”

As they spilled out of the kitchen they met Martha, Ellen and Freya hurrying down the stairs to see what the commotion was. Freya gave a cry when she saw Finn and shrank behind Martha.

“Where did you find Finn?” demanded Martha.

“Never mind that. There are wolves outside,” said Magnus succinctly. “They’re trying to get in.”

They scattered to the other rooms to make the house secure then gathered in the kitchen. In the half-light coming around the barred shutters, all eyes turned to Finn, standing with his back against the wall like an animal at bay.

“What happened out there?” Magnus asked, his mind full of the impossible events he had just witnessed. “What did you do? What
are
you?”

He had eased his knife from its sheath as he spoke. Now he moved into the middle of the room, putting himself between Finn and the others.

“Why have you come back? What are you trying to do to us? What did you do to Freya?” he asked, his voice dangerously quiet.

“Put that knife away, Magnus.” Her voice icy, Ellen stepped forward. “You’ll not spill blood in this house today. No one will do anything they have cause to regret later. Martha, Jess – get some lamps lit so we can see what we’re doing. Freya, child, come here to me.” Ellen held out a hand. Visibly trembling, Freya walked to her and the old woman put an arm round her.

“He won’t hurt you. He won’t touch you. He won’t even look at you if you don’t want him to. You’re safe. Do you believe me?”

Freya nodded mutely, comforted by the certainty in the old woman’s voice.

As Martha and Jess lit lamps, Ellen went on, “Ashe, come over here too. You’re safe. The wolves can’t get in.”

Ashe flung his arms round his grandmother’s waist, tears running down his face.

“Where’s the horse that saved me? Did the wolves get it?” he quavered.

Magnus looked at Ashe, then at Jess, then at Finn.

“No,” he said slowly, as though he had to force the words out. “The horse is here. The horse is Finn.”

Martha gave a gasp and put her hand to her mouth.

“Or am I mad, Jess?” Magnus went on. “Tell me you saw him change too.”

The time for lying had passed.

“You’re not mad,” Jess said.

“Then
what are you
?” Magnus spoke to Finn again.

“The boy is a Kelpie,” Ellen said in a weary voice, and moved to sit down, taking Freya and Ashe with her.

“
A Kelpie
?” Martha stared at Finn and watched as he nodded.

“Kelpie? What’s that?” Magnus was still baffled.

A howl came from outside, and glass smashed in one of the windows as a wolf threw itself against it.

There was silence for a few seconds then Finn answered.

“The Kelpies are my people, though we call ourselves Nykur. We live in the world below the water. Sometimes we visit your world – the Upper World – and sometimes we take horse shape.”

“And sometimes you take people from here?” Magnus’s voice would have etched metal.

“Yes.”

“And you took Freya.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

“What did you do to her?” Magnus’s hand went to his knife hilt again.

“Nothing. We didn’t hurt her.”

“Magnus, stop… don’t,” said Jess desperately.

“It’s true.” They all turned at the sound of Freya’s voice. “I remember now. I remember. There was a horse. I was on its back and it took me under the water.” She frowned, concentrating hard. “There was a house built over a river, and a family – Finn’s family. There was a girl called Rowan; she was my friend.”

Freya looked at Jess, wide-eyed. “And then Jess came, and took me back. Brought me back here.”

“You were there. You saw them,” she said directly to Jess.

Jess nodded wordlessly.

Magnus stared at Jess blankly.

“You went to the Kelpie world? To get Freya back?” Her mother’s voice shook.

“Yes.” Jess found her voice somewhere. “I had to. No one else would believe me when I told them what happened. I tried so hard to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“But how did you know about Kelpies? No one in this house has ever spoken about Kelpies in front of you. Have they?”

Before she could think of a convincing lie, Jess saw her mother realise the truth. Martha fixed Ellen with a gimlet stare.

“
You
told her about this? You put my daughter in danger?”

“Only so she could tell Arnor, persuade
him
to go. I never, ever thought she would go herself.” The distress was plain in Ellen’s voice.

“Don’t blame Gran. It’s not her fault,” Jess burst out. “She tried to stop me going. But I couldn’t leave Freya if there was a chance to bring her back.”

An uneasy silence grew, broken by the sound of a wolf growling outside the door.

“What about these wolves?” Magnus asked, searching for something he could understand in this avalanche of impossible facts. “Why are they behaving like this?”

“They’re not normal wolves. They won’t give up this hunt until they’ve killed or
been
killed,” Finn said.

“Where have they come from?”

Finn paused.

“They’ve broken through from my world. They shouldn’t be able to. We have enchantments in place to hold them back. I don’t know what’s gone wrong.”

“You’ve brought these things on us as well?” Magnus exclaimed angrily.

“No! The Nykur have been protecting you from wolves for years.”

Magnus looked at him sceptically. “So we need to kill them?” he asked, concentrating on the most pressing problem.

“Yes.”

“How?”

Finn looked nonplussed. “How do you normally kill wolves?”

“Bow, or better still, crossbow.”

“Then these will be the same.”

Martha hadn’t spoken for some time, but she cut in now.

“What about Ian and Arnor? They’re going to be riding straight into this.”

Magnus and Finn glanced at each other. In the face of the immediate danger, some sort of unspoken truce seemed to have been declared.

“Are they armed?” asked Finn.

“They’ll have knives, but nothing else,” Martha said anxiously.

“Then either we need to kill these wolves ourselves or find a way to warn Ian and Arnor,” said Magnus. “Let’s have a look from upstairs, see what we’re up against.”

“Jess, where does your father keep his crossbow?” Magnus asked her.

“In the tool shed,” said Jess, heart sinking. It was clearly not the answer Magnus had wanted to hear.

“What about a normal bow?”

“That’s in the tool shed too.”

Magnus swore. “Upstairs then. At least we can have a look.”

Magnus, Finn and Jess ran up the stairs and into her room. Below, the snow that still remained in the farmyard was churned with wolf prints. They could see four of the wolves pacing near the house. From the barn came the sound of the cows bellowing, disturbed by the howling and the smell of wolf.

“Where are the other wolves?” Jess wondered. “There are only four out there.”

“Perhaps they’re at the front.”

They moved through to Ian and Martha’s room and found Freya there. She flinched away when Finn came near, then steadied herself.

“There are two down here.”

“Well, at least we know where they all are.”

“Finn,” Freya said his name with obvious reluctance. “You need to change to horse shape and draw them off so that Magnus can get to the tool shed for the crossbow.”

“No!” Jess exclaimed. “That’s far too risky. There are six of them.”

“No Jess, Freya’s right,” said Finn. He looked at Magnus, who nodded. “We don’t have much time. If Ian and Arnor left Forfar at first light, they can’t be far away.”

“We need to get those two away from the front so that I can get out there and change.” Finn was thinking aloud now. “Then I’ll go through the yard and hopefully, they’ll all chase me.”

Jess’s heart was in her mouth. There was far too much that could go wrong with this. But Freya was right: they had to do something.

Minutes later Ellen, Martha, Freya and Ashe were ready to bombard the wolves at the front, Magnus was poised by the back door ready to dash for the tool shed, and Finn stood at the door, waiting for Martha’s shout to tell him it was safe to go outside.

Jess stood with Finn, ready to lock the door behind him, heart hammering so hard she could hardly breathe.

“Please, please be careful,” she said softly to Finn. She took a breath. “And don’t come back. Get away while you have the chance.”

“And leave you all like this?” He shook his head. “I’m coming back, Jess.”

Martha shouted downstairs, “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” they chorused.

There was a cacophony of noise as objects began to hit the ground near the front door. Judging by the way the growls outside changed to whimpers, some of them hit their marks on the way.

“Quick, Finn! They’ve gone round to the back,” called Martha.

Jess unbolted the door.

“Good luck,” she whispered, opening it.

“I’ll be back in five minutes,” Finn said, and kissed her as he stepped outside.

Jess slammed and locked the door and stood with her back to it, listening in terror until she heard the sound of hooves. She locked the kiss away at the bottom of her mind – there was no time to think about that now – and hurried to the back door where Magnus waited.

Upstairs in Jess’s room, Martha watched as the black horse trotted across the yard. The wolves turned to it as one. The horse stopped for long enough to get their attention fully, then shot out of the yard.