The Curse of Deadman's Forest (29 page)

Magus tapped his lips thoughtfully. “Good thinking,” he said with a nod of approval. “However, as the village obviously has such a crafty network of spies on the lookout, it would seem they would be able to mobilize themselves quite efficiently and escape your revenge before you’ve even rounded the trees.”

The colonel frowned. “We will hunt them down,” he promised. “Every last one of those Polish rats!”

Magus stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Of course you will,” he said smoothly. “However, that would take time away from reaching your goal. Your uncle would not be so happy to hear of your delay in reaching Warsaw, now, would he?”

“Then what am I to do?” snapped the colonel, his patience clearly at an end.

“Go
through
the trees, my friend. Strike the village from behind the cover of their own camouflage! There is a path that cuts through the very center of the forest, and the pathway is just large enough for your panzers.”

“How do you know of this?” asked the German commander suspiciously.

“I have conducted my own reconnaissance,” Magus replied calmly. “I have sent my own spies into the forest. They found the path. The way is perfectly clear except for a few large stones in the middle.”

“Stones?”

Magus waved his hand as if shooing away a fly. “A crude barricade created to thwart your tanks. But these peasants have underestimated your power, Colonel. These stones are not so large as to withstand a blast from
your
panzers. And what a show of strength it would be to blow the stones to pieces! Think of the confidence it would give your men to know such an obstacle could be so easily dealt with.”

“We cannot go around the stones?” asked the colonel.

“The way is not wide enough to maneuver the tanks,” said Magus. “But there are only a few large megaliths to bar your path, I assure you. And you’ve more than enough firepower to deal with them.”

The colonel still appeared unsure. “You are positive in this, Magus?”

Magus understood that the man across the chessboard was weighing the pros and cons of the risky maneuver. “The village and the forest are polluted with spies,” he repeated. “You would be doing the Führer a great favor by annihilating them. And the best way to reach them before they can escape is by going directly through the forest. The only thing standing in your way to glory, Colonel, are a few pesky stones.”

The colonel considered this for a very long moment. “Very well, Magus, when Berlin sends the orders to invade, we will go through your forest,” Gropp agreed; then he frowned as he looked again at the chessboard and realized the sorcerer had just taken his king.

“You played a very good game, Colonel,” Magus said with delight. “But this evening, luck was on my side.”

Gropp’s ratty face became purple with anger and he stood up abruptly before storming away. Magus watched with immense satisfaction as the colonel slapped a nearby soldier who did not get out of his way fast enough.

Magus then carefully tucked the pieces of his chess set back into the case and wondered if his beasts had yet been successful back in Dover. He’d dispatched the three hellhounds to watch over Castle Dover after hearing from his sisters that the witch had discovered the children’s vulnerability. He sincerely hoped that the little ones had indeed come out to play.

I
an awoke to a searing pain in his right arm and shoulder that grew more and more unbearable with every passing second. His body was shuddering with involuntary spasms, and he found that he was having great difficulty breathing. “This is very bad,” said a soft female voice. “We must take him to my grandmother’s house immediately!”

“Can’t we bring your grandmother here?” he heard Theo reply. “I’m afraid to move him.”

“No,” said the girl bluntly. “He must come with us to the house.”

“I can carry him,” Carl said. Ian gave another shudder. He didn’t want anyone to touch him. He just wanted to lie as still as possible and fight the pain coursing through him from his shoulder down his side and across his chest. It felt like a thousand hot daggers were stabbing their way through the right side of his body.

“No,” said the girl curtly. “I have a wheelbarrow just beyond those trees. We’ll use it to carry him to the house.”

“Don’t …,” Ian muttered through gritted teeth, unable to say more.

“He’s awake!” Theo gasped, and he felt her warm hand lie across his forehead. “He’s freezing cold,” she whispered, and Ian could tell she was desperately worried.

“He’s been poisoned,” said the girl. “Do you see that black ring around his wound? If it spreads to his heart, I’m afraid he’ll die.”

“Can your grandmother help him?” Carl asked, and his voice sounded desperate.

“Maybe,” replied the girl. “But her services are not free.”

“We have money!” Theo said, and Ian heard her rummaging around in the knapsack. “Here!” she said. “Take some!”

Ian pried one of his eyelids open as he continued to shiver and shake. He saw Theo and Carl sitting beside him, and all around was a dense forest. Next to them was a girl about his age with dark brown hair and beautiful amber eyes. She had pale unmarred skin and a small nose. He might have thought her very pretty if he weren’t fighting so hard not to pass out again.

She took the bills from Theo and regarded them skeptically. “English pound notes?”

Theo and Carl exchanged a look. “It’s all we’ve got,” Carl told her.

The girl continued to regard them curiously for a moment. “Where did you come from, exactly?”

“England,” Carl told her, but offered nothing more.

“But you speak Polish,” replied the girl, “with no hint of an accent.”

Theo reached out and took hold of the girl’s hand. She looked imploringly at her and promised, “We’ll explain everything to you if you’ll just help our friend.”

The girl considered Theo for a moment before her gaze swiveled back to Ian. She looked at him as if wondering if he was worth the trouble; then her eyes moved back to the money Theo had given her. “Very well,” she said. “We will help him. But while you are at our home, you must obey
every
order I give you. Is that clear?”

Both Theo and Carl nodded vigorously. “We’ll do exactly as you say,” said Carl. “Just tend to him, all right?”

The girl got up and walked away several paces before disappearing around an enormous tree. She returned a moment later with a crude wooden wheelbarrow, already half full with green plants and various flowers. “Help me load him into here,” she instructed.

Carl bent down on Ian’s left side and whispered, “I know it hurts, mate, but you’ve got to work with me. I’m going to get you to your feet and move you to the barrow. On three.”

Ian was making short little gasping sounds as the pain in his chest and side continued to spread. He wanted very much to cooperate with Carl, but the searing heat was too intense for him to manage anything more than gripping his friend’s shoulder. “One,” Carl whispered, moving his arms carefully under Ian’s neck and lower back. “Two …” Ian braced himself. “Three.”

Carl lifted Ian and the shock of the movement sent a
wave of pain through him that was so intense it completely overwhelmed him. Ian let out a scream of agony and faded into darkness.

Sometime later Ian came out of the black, blurry world he’d been floating in. He was still in a significant amount of pain, but his breathing was a fraction easier. He heard voices again hovering over him. The girl from the woods, he recognized: “Will he survive?”

Another voice, this one dry, old, and brittle, said, “I have cured him enough to keep him alive for now. He still carries a bit of the venom in his veins, which will weaken him over time, but for now his condition should improve, at least for another day or two, before the venom takes hold again and he will begin to decline. I will heal him fully when you have satisfied the price. And know that I have forestalled his death in advance of payment only as a favor to you, Eva, because you and your grandmother have served me well these many years.”

“Thank you, wise one,” said the girl.

Ian wanted to open his eyes and see who was talking, but the shudders and spasms running through him prevented him from doing anything other than gritting his teeth.

“What was the source of the venom?” the girl suddenly asked.

“The others would not tell you?”

“No. They’re being very secretive. They’ve only told me that they come from England.”

The old one snorted. “It does not surprise me that they don’t wish to reveal their past, given that this one was bitten by a hellhound.”

“A
what?”
gasped the girl.

“A beast of legend,” the old one said. “Which means these children have obviously been exploring places they don’t belong. Hellhounds rarely venture into populated areas. And the hellhound’s bite is nearly always fatal. This boy was lucky to have entered my forest.”

“Do you think the hound is still nearby?” the girl asked, her voice filled with fear.

Ian heard someone sniff loudly. “No,” said the old voice. “It is nowhere nearby, which is curious, because I doubt the lad could have traveled far with a wound like that.”

There was a long silence after that, and Ian suspected that the girl still looked worried, because the old one chuckled and said, “No need for concern, Eva. If any beast from the underworld were to set one filthy paw in
my
forest, I would know of it, and it would be the last move the creature ever made. Now, about my fee …”

“They gave me money,” the girl said quickly. “English pound notes. They are very valuable and you may purchase your heart’s desire with them.”

There was a pause, and Ian had the distinct impression that the girl had said something offensive. “You know I have no interest in money,” the older one snapped. “I desire
things
, Eva. Bring me a trinket to amuse me and the debt will be paid. Then I will heal the lad the rest of the way.”

“I’ll need some time,” Eva said.

“I will give you a few days, but do not test my patience, girl, or your grandmother and this boy may suffer. Remember, the venom still courses through him. He will not be completely healed until you have paid the price.”

“I will do my best to purchase something wonderful with the money they’ve given me.”

“Do not disappoint me, girl,” the voice warned.

“I promise!” Eva whispered earnestly.

“And the three of them are to stay here with you until the debt has been paid. I shall not look kindly upon them running amuck in my forest and disturbing the balance I have created here.”

“On my word, I will keep them here,” the girl swore.

Ian heard these last words and found that the darkness wanted to envelop him again. He tried to stay awake and hear more but was far too weak to fight, and a moment later he was back in the deep black void.

Ian became aware of the orange hue across his eyelids about the same time he became mindful of the terrible dryness in the back of his throat. He tried to swallow but couldn’t manage even a bit of moisture. He took a deep breath and realized he was able to breathe more easily now. With effort, he opened his eyes a tiny fraction. His vision was blurred and he blinked to clear it. Theo’s relieved face came into focus. “Hello there,” she whispered with a smile. “We’ve missed you.”

“Is he awake?” Ian heard Carl say. A shuffling of feet brought Carl next to Theo. His friend grinned broadly down
at him, his complexion slightly flushed—as if he’d been running. “You gave us quite a scare there, mate.”

“Water,” Ian croaked.

Theo reached to the small table next to him for a cup. She gently eased a hand underneath his head and lifted it off the pillow so that he could take a drink. Ian slurped the water greedily. He downed the entire contents. “More?”

Carl took the cup from Theo and rushed away from the bed. He was back a moment later and gave the cup back to Theo, who again helped Ian drink. Afterward, Ian sighed. “Thank you,” he said as the prickly feeling in the back of his throat subsided.

“How are you feeling?” Theo asked him.

Ian inhaled as deeply as he could and was relieved to find his lungs cooperating fully. “Better,” he said. “But my arm and shoulder are still a bit sore.”

“Can you feel your fingers?” Theo asked him, looking worried again.

Ian tilted his head, wanting to know why she’d asked him that. He glanced toward his right hand and realized with a start that the whole of it and most of his fingers were hugely swollen and the skin was bruised black and blue. Just above his wrist, where the beast had bitten him, was a thick bandage, and a green salve oozed out from the edges. “Blimey!” he gasped, fear racing up his spine. “What’s happened to my hand?”

“Try to wiggle one finger,” Theo said coaxingly. Ian looked at her and gulped. He laid his head back on the pillow
and closed his eyes before very carefully wiggling the fingers on his right hand. Searing heat shot straight up his arm and he hissed through his teeth. But when he opened his eyes, Theo was smiling down at him in relief. “Well done,” she assured him.

“Where are we?” he asked, looking about the room he was in.

“We were fortunate to find a very nice girl named Eva in the forest when we came through the portal,” Theo explained. “She helped us bring you here to her grandmother’s cottage, and she has been kind enough to offer us food, drink, and a place to sleep while you get better.”

Ian nodded tiredly. “That’s very good of her,” he said.

“Yes,” Theo agreed. “She’s tended to your wound and has assured us that you’ll get better, but she’s also advised that we have you move your fingers as soon as possible. The beast’s bite was quite poisonous, but Eva managed to draw most of it out with that salve. She said that it might take a few days, but she promised us that you would feel better very soon.”

Ian waited for the heat surging along his nerves to subside before he asked softly, “Do you believe Eva is the Healer?”

Theo’s face clouded. “I’m afraid I don’t know,” she said, glancing warily over her shoulder. “She certainly seems capable of treating you, but I’m afraid that when she was fussing over you, Carl and I could barely keep our eyes open long enough to observe exactly how she made you better.