The Lost Heir (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 1) (27 page)

Jake began walking away from the house like a person in a dream, leaving the garden, marching slowly toward the stream.

‘That’s right. Very good. Come along, now,’
the voice in his head urged him.

I don’t want to!
he thought, but it was no use. He stepped right into the cool, babbling stream, leaving Bradford Park and the compost heap behind.

His pulse pounded in his ears.

Stop! What are you doing?
he mentally yelled at himself. But the only thing that mattered was doing as the deep voice commanded…

The water-nymphs spotted him crossing the stream and charged at him like sharks streaking through the water. “Stop, Jacob! Where are you going?”

“Stay back!” He held up the seashell strung around his neck. “I must go, and you are not to stop me!”

“We’re trying to protect you!” the water nymphs wailed.

‘Send them away.’

“Stand aside!” he ordered.

“Jacob, come back!” Lydia yelled.

He held up the shell. “I command you, leave this place. You are dismissed. You are not wanted here anymore.”

“But the Guardian said—”

“You don’t answer to him, you answer to me! I’m the one who bears the summons shell! Now begone, all of you! You’ve served your duty here!” Jake could hear his own voice, but the words coming out of his mouth barely sounded like him. Those were not the sort of words he’d ever use.

That was because his uncle was feeding him his lines, slipping them straight into his mind somehow. They were Uncle Waldrick’s words—coming out of his mouth.

The water nymphs exchanged looks of angry confusion, but they had no choice but to obey whoever carried the shell. Angrily, they retreated to let Jake pass.

“What is he doing?” they whispered.

Not even Jake could have answered that question. He was simply following the orders in his head. He was aware of everything but had suddenly become no more than a puppet. He climbed up onto the opposite bank of the stream and walked, dripping, through the tall grass, going to stand before his uncle.

Waldrick smiled at him, his cold gray eyes gleaming with victory. “Hullo, nephew. How nice to see you again.”

Jake longed to call the water nymphs back to help him, but his voice was no longer his own. He felt powerless. It was as if his legs and arms had those shackles around them once more, like when he had been arrested.

He rallied all his strength, but could find only a small drop of his usual rebellion. “What do you want with me?” he dully intoned.

His uncle’s smile widened. “You’ll see. Come along, boy. This way. My carriage is waiting,” his sinister uncle said with a suave gesture.

No!
a distant portion of Jake’s mind screamed, but whatever his uncle had done to him, the spell was deepening. His body lurched into motion, obeying the command. The fog rolling over his mind was getting thicker. His personality was receding, going numb. The boy who had always hated being told what to do now simply obeyed.

He stepped up into Uncle Waldrick’s carriage and found a beautiful lady with long black hair already waiting inside it. She studied him keenly. “Hello, Jacob. What a talented boy you are! You and I are going to be very great friends.”

He sat down across from her.

“To the train depot!” Waldrick called to his driver as he took his seat, then he pulled the carriage door shut.

The coach sprang into motion.

With the spell growing stronger, Jake didn’t even bother to ask where his kidnappers were taking him. It was easier just to sit quietly.

And do as he was told.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

A Secret in the Forest

Meanwhile, Dani glanced at Isabelle as the dull thunder of hoof-beats on the soft forest floor grew louder.

Large shapes began moving behind the leafy screen of the underbrush. Then Dani held her breath as a silvery sword emerged slowly from behind the boughs—no, it was not a sword, she saw, though she could scarcely believe her eyes. It was a
horn
, as bright as diamonds—and then the graceful head of the unicorn appeared, its ivory forelock cascading down the center of its snow-white face.

It whickered softly to Isabelle, its tapered ears flicking forward as the rest of the animal stepped gracefully into view, its pearly sides parting the greenery. Longer, feathery hairs the same cream-color as its mane adorned its lower legs.

Dani could not believe her eyes as more of the otherworldly animals came silently into view.

“This is King Belarex, and over there is his chief wife, Queen Claeryn. Their herd originated in the mountains of Snowdonia in Wales, but they scattered centuries ago when King Edward and his knights tried to hunt them. My ancestors gave them refuge in our woodlands long ago to keep them safe. There are those who would still attempt to hunt them today,” Isabelle added grimly. “That’s why they’re a secret. The only humans they trust are young girls.”

Dani could not even find her voice to answer, nor could she tear her gaze off the otherworldly animals.

Only the unicorn stallion was pure white; the mares had white bodies with manes and tails, dappled haunches and flowing fetlocks faintly tinged with soft blues and lavenders, shades of silver and gray-green. These wintry tones must have helped them to blend in to the shadows of their original snowy habitat in the Welsh mountains.

Their horns glistened like February icicles.

Because it was spring, there were babies. The mares nudged half a dozen little foals along, their horns mere buds on their foreheads. The babies frisked about over the mossy ground, their short tails wagging.

Dani turned, speechless, as the unicorn stallion, Belarex, walked over to Isabelle. He was as tall as a draft horse, but far more elegant of line. He had a noble bearing and soulful, brown-black eyes as he lowered his head to accept the offering of sweet grass that she held out to him. Isabelle murmured something, and his ears twitched.

Then she turned to Dani. “He’s ready to meet you now.”

She gulped as the unicorn stepped over toward her. “What do I do?”

“Just stand there. He’ll smell you to see if you are trustworthy.”

Dani stood motionless, afraid of being skewered if the unicorn king should find her unworthy. He arched his regal neck and lowered his muzzle to her cheek, where he sniffed her for a moment.

Dani held perfectly still, staring at the glistening horn that angled over her head, delighting in the velvety caress of the horse’s nose snuffling at her cheek.

Then Belarex pawed the ground with his fore-hoof.

Isabelle smiled. “He likes you. You may pet him now if you wish.”

“I can?”

“Probably just for a moment. He doesn’t stay still for very long.”

Dani reached up her hand tentatively and touched the massive animal’s neck.

Though he was flecked with mud from running through the woods and even had a couple of burrs in his wild mane, his hide was like satin under her palm. She stroked the unicorn in utter amazement.

But the magic of this noblest of animals ran deep. His presence cast an enchantment quite the opposite of the dark and violent spell that had caused the blacksmith to attack.

The quiet, shining presence of a unicorn had the power to soothe the hurt and melt the anger in a person’s heart. Indeed, Dani thought, if Belarex had stepped out onto a raging battlefield, both armies would have surely put down their weapons and decided to make peace on the spot.

The noble creature’s nearness flooded her heart with so many emotions. She could not explain why tears rose in her eyes. She leaned her head against the unicorn’s shoulder with a fleeting thought of Ma. Not since her mother had died had she felt so loved.

Pure, gentle love seemed to flow out of all the unicorns. Perhaps that was what made them so powerful.

As she leaned her head against the unicorn’s shoulder, she remembered Jake’s mean words. She remembered, too, that he had never had a family or a home. No one had ever taught him how to love. Perhaps it was just the unicorns’ soothing presence influencing her, but she was suddenly inspired to forgive the blockhead, even if he didn’t apologize.

Knowing Jake, he probably
was
sorry, but was just too full of stubborn pride to admit it. Standing so near the unicorn, Dani saw no reason to hold on to petty grudges.

Just let it go
, the unicorn seemed to say as he turned and gave her another snuffling ‘kiss’ on the top of her head, as if she were one of his foals.

Then Belarex moved on, returning to his herd.

Dani stepped back out of his way, and Isabelle came over to stand beside her. The girls were silent, watching in awe as the unicorns faded back into the forest.

At length, they looked at each other in wonder.

Isabelle smiled. “What do you think?”

“They’re the most wonderful secret in all the world,” Dani said earnestly. “Thank you, Isabelle—from the bottom of my heart.”

“You’re welcome, Dani. Come on.” Isabelle took her by the hand and affectionately tugged her away from the spot. “We should be getting back now.”

“Do we have to? I want to stay here. Maybe they’ll come back!”

“Tomorrow. Come on. It’s almost time for dinner, and Great Aunt Ramona does not approve of tardiness.”

“All right.” Dani felt like she was floating on air as the girls returned to the mansion.

When they arrived, Isabelle went to her room to wash up for supper, but with the unicorns’ influence of kindness still strong in her heart, Dani decided to go and bring Jake something to drink as a peace offering.

She went to the kitchens and asked for a glass of lemonade. One of the kitchen maids obliged her.

But when Dani brought the cup outside, she stopped at the bottom of the garden.
Uh-oh.

Jake was nowhere to be seen.

Shirking his punishment,
she thought.
I hope Derek doesn’t find out.
But she knew only one thing for certain.

There was no way she was telling on him this time.

If he wanted to skip out on his ‘consequences,’ that was Jake’s own business. She was keeping her mouth shut.

This was between him and Derek. Then Jake would see she was not a
“traitor”
or a
“tattletale.”

She went over and set the glass of lemonade on the old tree stump nearby, where he could easily find it when he came back from wherever he’d gone. He was probably just taking a break somewhere, and no doubt, she would see him at supper.

Determined to stay out of it and prove she’d learned her lesson, she went back into the house to wash up for the evening meal.

But Jake did not appear at the supper table, and neither did Archie. The young inventor had also been sent to his room. Both boys were being punished for breaking the rules and instigating their visit to Gryphondale today.

In truth, the dining room seemed rather lifeless without their boisterous company. The mood at the table was somber and everyone was quiet.

Lady Bradford sat at the head of the table sipping her soup from her spoon, all formidable dignity. Derek sat to her right, Miss Helena on her left; next, Dani and Isabelle sat across from each other.

The girls exchanged a secretive look of amusement when they both noticed Derek and Helena gazing at each other.

Lady Bradford put down her spoon. “Shall we expect your brother on the morning train, Helena?”

“I believe so, my lady. Henry wanted to wait until the morning editions of the newspapers were available so he could bring some copies back for us. The story about Master Jacob’s safe return should run tomorrow.”

“Very good. Guardian Stone—” She turned to Derek. “What did you manage to learn in the village? Were you permitted to interview this deranged blacksmith?”

“Yes, ma’am. The constable is keeping Magnus under lock and key, but I’m afraid it didn’t go well. He was very disoriented after that blow to the head. I will have to go back tomorrow.”

“What are they saying about all this down in the village?” Miss Helena asked in concern.

Derek looked at her ruefully. “Oh, the rumors are already flying. But most people seem to think that he merely went insane. They’ve sent for a mad-doctor from the lunatic asylum to examine him.”

“We can’t let poor Mr. Magnus be locked up in an asylum,” Isabelle spoke up. “He was under a spell. It’s not his fault.”

“Don’t worry, dearest. We won’t let that happen,” Lady Bradford assured her with a doting look.

It really was remarkable, thought Dani, how different the stern old lady was toward Isabelle than she was toward anyone else. If Isabelle were a bad sort of girl, she could have gotten away with murder or at least have been very spoiled. But then, she would not have been worthy to serve as the keeper of the unicorns, Dani mused just as Derek spoke up again.

“Were you ladies able to interview the rest of the, er, servants down at Griffon Castle?” he asked the baroness and Miss Helena.

Dani glanced over curiously, eager to hear what the former frog-people might have had to say. “Did they even remember how to talk?” she piped up.

“It took a while, but they finally stopped saying ‘ribbit’ and started speaking English,” Miss Helena answered her with a fond smile.

“Did they tell you how on earth they wound up in that condition?” Derek asked.

Helena glanced around as though uncertain how much she should say. Lady Bradford gave her a nod signaling her permission to share what they had learned.

“Actually, the butler shared a rather disturbing piece of information. Most of their time as frogs was a blur—”

“Probably a blessing,” Her Ladyship remarked.

“The last thing the butler said he remembered before he turned into a frog was a beautiful lady with black hair and bright blue eyes. She came and knocked on the door a few days after Sir George Hobbes had gone to the gallows. She told some sort of story about her carriage breaking down on the road nearby, so he let her in. Then she began to sing.”

“Sing?” Derek exclaimed.

Helena nodded. “The butler described a strange song like nothing he had ever heard. He said the whole staff gathered round, and everything came to a halt. The next thing he knew, he was an amphibian.”