Seven Sorcerers (23 page)

The other bogeymen would snigger at him. The great Champion Kid-Catcher would have finally lost a kid. He would be like them. He would be a bogeyman who could fail.

Skerridge snarled.

Not likely. No way. Never.

So, he was back to the problem. Keeping up with the Storm was easy for a bogeyman, he had been hovering underneath the darned thing for three days. The problem was that the Hounds were not interested in a mere Fabulous. The Hounds wanted souls and only the Quick had those. So even if he could keep up with the Hounds, he couldn’t make them pick him up.

Gloomily, Skerridge tried to face the fact that maybe, in spite of all his hard work, he would lose his reputation after all.

The Hounds were everywhere, like a great swarm around her. They were grey and wraithlike with eyes of white fire. Their jaws were huge and heavy and their limbs long. As they loped across the sky they were silent, only a low sighing filled her ears, like something crying far away. Like something lost.

And then it came to Nin that if she hadn’t remembered her name she would be lost too. But she
had
remembered and because she knew who she was she could be part of the Hounds and yet still herself. For a while at least.

Her heart turned cold as she began to see in the Gabriel Hounds traces of the people they used to be. Something about the faces had a human look. Here and there the long cloudy legs ended in grotesque hands instead of paws. In some of them Nin thought she saw ordinary, human eyes behind the white light. She shivered, not daring to glance down at herself in case she looked like that too. She didn’t think she could bear it if she did.

With an inner lurch she saw that it was evening, somehow she had missed the day. The clouds thickened and she felt a sickening swoop as they tore down towards the ground, searching for Quick life. Now the Hounds were no longer silent and their chilling howls mixed with the sound of thunder as they clamoured after prey. To her horror, Nin found that she was baying
too. And worse. Something inside her was angry that if there were any Quick around, they had long since fled for cover.

But for a fraction of a second she saw it. Dry land. Stretched below her, patterned with hills and a herd of horses the colour of midnight, racing across the Land on fiery hooves as the Hounds raced across the sky. Then the lightning flashed, the rain began and the dry land was soaked.

And then she knew that she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t break away in time, before the dry land was gone. She would never be fast enough. It was not possible for a Quick to be that fast. She howled again. And it was a howl like a wolf.

Never despair. That was what the Grimm woman with the golden eyes had said. Remember who you are. Never despair.

The Storm rose, riding high into the sky. Nin pushed the knowledge that it was impossible right to the back of her mind. She had to try anyway, but first of all she had to find Jonas.

She began to scan the Hounds, searching for anything familiar. She was horribly afraid she wouldn’t recognise him, but she did. He was further ahead of her in the pack, running on long cloud limbs, his face already changing.

Nin began to move. It was not as hard as she had feared, the Hounds had no real weight and she could push through them in the direction she wanted to go. In
no time, or what seemed like no time to her although it was already night again outside the Storm, she was close to Jonas. His eyes were full of lightning and he was baying with the rest of them.

She called his name, but he ignored her. Just once, when she had been calling him for a while, he turned his head in her direction and she thought that he might have recognised her. Then he looked away again.

Nin gave up and tried to think of some other way to do this. If she could just get hold of him then maybe she could pull him with her. If she could spot the right moment, of course, and if she could be quick enough to get out before it was too late.

And all the time the Hounds sped on through the sky in endless pursuit. Nin caught glimpses of the land hurtling past far below, always changing from vivid greens and golds into darker hues as the storm clouds cast their shadow. She wondered if it would always be like this now, if the only light she ever saw was the grey half-light of the rain-drenched countryside or the brilliance of lightning. Fear made her ache inside. She had to get them both away, but she didn’t know how.

She was running shoulder to shoulder with Jonas now. She couldn’t hang on to him
and
keep pace so she would have to spot her moment,
then
grab him,
then
get out.

And suddenly, it was dawn.

By the number of days she had glimpsed, at least two dawns must have passed already, but they had happened in those great blanks when time lurched forward. This
one happened when she was aware.

First she saw a glimmer of light in the air, drawing a nimbus of gold around her and the Hounds. She could feel the power gathering, an electric quiver spreading through the air. Then the sky exploded. Fire surged through the Storm in a wave of pure energy, turning the clouds to crimson and gold. She felt its hot wind rip through the misty fabric of her body and the force of it filled her with fear and intense happiness all at once. She threw back her head and howled and all the Hounds howled with her.

The clouds boiled in the heat, evaporating around the Hounds and leaving them thinner, ghosts edged in flame and carried on the fierce tide as it burned across the sky. The light was so bright that Nin could see nothing else as they flew at a frightening pace, part of the dawn fire, all sense of time or place lost.

And then it was gone.

It left an emptiness that terrified her. Almost at once the Storm began to thicken again, its dark vapour covering the Hounds like a shroud, giving them back their cloudy forms. Now, they ran in silence, although maybe the sighing was louder. The more Nin listened to it, the more it chilled her. She began to think that if she listened long enough she might hear words, cries for help, not just distant sobbing. But however much that filled her with terror, she also knew in her heart that if she experienced the dawn even once more then she would never want to leave.

If she was ever going to get them out it had to be now.

The clouds were swooping down again, the land rising to meet them at a terrifying speed. Tiny figures dropped everything and fled towards shelter.

Nin could feel Jonas running at her shoulder, and her focus was so clear and sharp that she could see every rock and stone and tiny blade of grass spread out below them. In the middle of it was a small, faraway shape, staring up.

NOW.

She reached for Jonas, catching hold of something that felt halfway between fur and cloth, then turned her face down to the dry land and pulled.

Jonas pulled back. He howled and she saw his head turn towards her. Jaws snapped at her arm. Nin screamed and held on, trying to fight her way down out of the clouds. It was too late.

Lightning cracked over her head and thunder rolled around her. Then the rain began.

She screamed again and thrashed, trying to break free and hold on to Jonas at the same time, but it was no use. The Hounds raised their faces upwards again, turning to leave the land behind.

And then something grabbed her arm and pulled so hard it hurt.

Nin scrunched the hand that was holding Jonas as tight as she could. She felt herself plummeting downwards and screamed some more as the ground rushed towards her. Jonas was struggling against her, but she
held on so fiercely that he couldn’t break free. Then she was out and rolling on the ground, yelping at the stones that bruised her limbs.

Above her the Storm flew out over the sea and was gone.

Nin bumped to a halt and scrabbled upright. Her shoulder and thigh hurt badly and her left eye was swelling.

Jonas howled. She was about to run towards him when she saw IT. The thing that she had last seen downstairs in the hall, smirking at her as her mother asked her who she was. It hissed steam.

‘Wotcha done, dumb kid?’ it snarled. ‘Wotcha wanna bring ’im for? Look at ’im. ’e ain’t no use now.’ The bogeyman stabbed a bony finger at Jonas.

‘Skerridge!’ cried Nin.

She turned her back on him and ran to Jonas anyway. He was still on the ground and shivering. She put an arm round him, but when he turned to look at her, she pulled back with a cry. His eyes were glowing white.

‘See,’ said Skerridge. ‘’e’s been in there too long.’

‘Not much longer than me,’ snapped Nin, ‘and I’m all right.’

‘Oh yeah …’ The bogeyman looked at her thoughtfully. ‘Now ya come t’ mention it, y’do look kinda normal.’

Jonas howled again. Nin reached out to touch him,
but he sprang to his feet and snarled at her and she drew back in horror. Then he turned away and stood, staring at the sky desperately.

‘Wants t’ go back, see. Carn be anyfin’ ovver than an ’Ound now. Ruined for life, ’e is.’

‘Will you shut up! If you can’t say anything helpful then don’t bother!’

She looked around. They were on a broad stretch of rocky ground. Further on, the rock turned sandy. Far out, Nin thought she could see a blue strip on the horizon.

‘Is that the sea?’

‘Yep.’

Jonas howled at the sky. Again and again. The sound of it tore at her. Nin shut her eyes and bit her lip. She could easily have cried and if Skerridge hadn’t been there she probably would have. Instead, she marched over to Jonas and dug in his pocket. He ignored her and went on staring hopelessly after the Hounds. His tinderbox was still there. Nin put it in her own pocket and started looking for something to burn.

Skerridge watched her for a minute. ‘There’s bound t’ be driftwood on the beach,’ he said. ‘Wan’ me t’ get ya some?’

Nin struggled for a moment. She would have liked to say no, but Jonas needed help and she wasn’t getting anywhere on her own.

‘You could,’ she said.

‘Done.’

There was a rush of air that made her gasp with surprise. Skerridge was gone. And then he was back, carrying a bundle of wood. Nin gaped at him.

‘Bogeymen move fast,’ he said. ‘Doncha know nuffin’?’

‘I knew that,’ she grumbled.

Nin picked a spot near the beach and piled the wood up carefully. Then she tried to use the tinderbox. Skerridge watched for a moment then shook his head and sent a quick spurt of flame at the wood. It ignited instantly. Nin glared at him. She couldn’t bring herself to say thank you.

Trying to persuade Jonas to sit down was difficult. Watching his face as he howled at the sky made her feel sick. His eyes, when he finally looked at her, made her feel sicker. When he was slumped by the fire, staring moodily into it and ignoring both her and Skerridge, she sat down herself. She had never felt so tired in her life and couldn’t think what to do next. She had checked the amulet a dozen times, but each time she looked it was the same. Dead, nothing more than a pretty necklace, the fiery trace gone. There was no help to be had there.

‘Callin’ the ’Ounds musta taken every last bit o’ power,’ Skerridge pointed out. ‘Carn’ o’ been easy.’

Nin sighed and tucked it away again. ‘I’ll keep it anyway. It helped me save Jonas. I wish I knew who made it.’

‘There’ll be a –’

‘There isn’t,’ she snapped. ‘I know there’s always
supposed to be a sorcerer’s mark, but there isn’t on this. I’ve looked.’

Skerridge puffed out his cheeks. ‘Well there y’are then. Simeon Dark. ’e always liked to be secretive about fings. ’Is mark was not to ’ave one.’

Nin glared at him irritably.

‘Wanna rabbit? Makes a nice stew, rabbit. I’ll get the rabbit, mebbe a coupla rabbits, an’ yew make the stew.’

‘I’ve got nothing to cook with,’ she said coldly.

‘I fort you carried the pan while ’e carried everyfin’ else?’

‘Yes.’ Nin spoke with exaggerated patience, ‘But someone stole my … Is that my bag?’

Skerridge whipped it off his back and dumped it next to her. ‘Fort it might come in ’andy.’

Nin stared at it suspiciously. ‘How long have you been following me?’

Skerridge scratched his head. ‘Oooo, lemme see. Since ya ran out the front door, I reckon.’