The Lost Treasure of Annwn (37 page)

RACE DAY

Jack became aware of an indistinct voice inside his head. Was he in bed or in Elidon? He sat up and opened his eyes. It wasn't his bedroom, but it wasn't the place he'd willed himself to either. He was expecting to be beside the river, opposite Sabrina's island, not inside a cave. The voice that had woken him spoke again. The familiar harsh tone sent a shiver down his spine. The sudden realisation of whose voice it was made his heart skip a beat. He looked around for a means of escape but the cave was in shadow. It was too late to move. He heard a cruel laugh. Jack put his hands over his ears. He knew the words about to be spoken would echo around the walls.
Now I'll have my revenge
…
revenge… revenge
. The sound of glass shattering against the rock told Jack the diamond key had once more been smashed. A figure lunged at him,
Vengeance is mine
…
mine… mine
. Jack held his breath. He instinctively closed his hand around his golden acorn. As the shadowy figure threw his head back and laughed again, Jack could see, without a doubt, that it was Velindur who stood before him. This had to be a dream. He couldn't possibly be inside the Caves of Eternal Rest; he was at Brenin House in bed. He closed his eyes and wished with all his might for Velindur to disappear.

Jack listened intently. The only sound he could hear was his heart pounding in his chest. He didn't dare open his eyes.
Take me to the Gelston River, take me to the coracle
, he wished. He heard the sound of rushing water, and knew his crystal had transported him back to Elidon. He cautiously opened his eyes. He could see Sabrina's island in the moonlight. The coracle was on the grassy bank and the swollen water of the Gelston River rushed past him. He made the wish that would bring Camelin to him.

‘What's wrong with you?' said Camelin, as he shook his hair and wiggled his shoulders. ‘And more to the point, what are we doing here? I've got plans for tonight.'

‘And I've got a problem.'

‘You look like you've seen a ghost. Aren't you going to change your pyjamas?'

Jack took a deep breath and visualised his tracksuit and trainers. He knew Camelin wasn't in the right frame of mind to listen to his nightmare, nor would he be pleased when he learnt Jack needed him to row the coracle over to the island.

‘I have to speak to Sabrina again before we have some fun.'

‘Why?'

‘Elan thinks she might be able to tell me about the missing standing stone from the top of Monument Hill, unless you know where I can find it?'

Camelin scowled.

‘You promised.'

‘When I've seen Sabrina I'll go wherever you want.'

Jack hoped Camelin had chosen somewhere safe, preferably well away from any kind of cave.

‘You'll need a pair of wellingtons, long ones.'

Jack looked at Camelin's choice of outfit. He was wearing the same bright yellow jumper he'd worn the first time they'd come but instead of trousers, he had a pair of shorts and bright green wellingtons. The umbrella was securely hooked over his arm.

‘Why do I need wellingtons?'

‘And a couple of nets too.'

‘Nets?'

‘Yeh! We're going pond dipping. I thought about it when we were talking to Judd, you know, when he was saying about the eels. I've seen lots of people with jam jars and nets going to the big pond on the far side of Glasruhen Hill. It looks like fun. I can tell you exactly where we need to go. I've looked at the map.'

‘Will we need jam jars too?'

‘Naw, we'll put them back if we catch anything. What d'you say? It'll be fun won't it?'

Jack couldn't see any harm in going pond dipping. He knew it would be fun. There were so many things they could do together as boys and a few hours just didn't seem long enough. He could see Camelin was impatient for an answer.

‘Agreed.'

‘Aw Jack! I'm so excited. Come on. Let's get in the coracle. I'll have us over to the island in no time.'

It wasn't easy getting the coracle into the water. The river was swollen with all the recent rain and the current was a lot stronger than before. Once they were on the river the little boat rocked and swayed. It wanted to follow the swirling flow of the water. Camelin had to work hard to steer the coracle towards the island.

‘What's that?' said Camelin as he nodded towards the shore.

Jack looked around. A large rowing boat had been pulled up onto the grass. He felt uneasy. It meant someone was on the island and that someone was probably man-sized.

‘We can't land there. Paddle round to the other side. We don't want anyone to see us. Maybe whoever's here will leave soon.'

Camelin nodded and steered the small craft away from the boat. Jack signalled to Camelin not to speak. The quieter they could be the better. They kept close to the water's edge to avoid the strong currents. A sudden jolt made Jack lose his balance. He thought at first they'd hit a rock but when he felt the boat being dragged to the shore he turned around. The one face Jack didn't want to see was grinning at them.

‘We meet again. How nice to have some company,' said Velindur, as he held the coracle fast with a hooked pole. ‘You wouldn't be looking for the same thing I'm looking for, would you?'

Jack shuddered. The voice was soft and friendly but Velindur's eyes were cold and hard. He looked directly at Camelin and held him in his gaze.

‘Let's get you and your little friend ashore where I can deal with you properly.'

Camelin didn't hesitate; he stood and used the paddle like a bat. The coracle swayed precariously. Velindur dropped the pole in order to defend himself but Camelin's arms weren't long enough. He yelled as Velindur reached out and wrenched the paddle from him. Jack tried to dislodge the pole but as he pulled it upwards he tore the side of the coracle. Without the oar to steady them the little craft began to rock violently from side to side. Water rushed into the boat. Velindur gave the coracle a hard prod with the paddle.

‘Now it's your turn to suffer; you made a fool of me in Annwn. This will be the last time I ever have to look upon your face.'

Jack could hear Velindur laughing as the current swept them away from the island.

‘The river will take you to your doom and save me the trouble,' he yelled after them.

Jack swallowed hard. He could see fear in Camelin's eyes as the coracle swirled and spun around; water poured in through the tear in the side. They were slowly beginning to sink. Camelin grabbed his umbrella. At first Jack thought he was going to try and use it as a paddle, but instead, he opened it up and tried to use it as a sail. Without any means to steer or paddle they were at the mercy of the river. The coracle sped along. Jack and Camelin clung to the sides. There was a sudden jolt, which nearly tipped the coracle over. Jack could see they'd struck the side of a fallen tree that jutted out from the bank. He felt dizzy as the little craft spun around. He could hear something loud ahead of them. Camelin grabbed his arm.

‘Time to go home! Wish us out of here!'

‘But I've got to speak to Sabrina, we can't come back to Elidon again before Samhain.'

‘We need to go now. I know where we are. That's Brion Ridge rapids up ahead, you can hear them. If we don't go soon we'll be in the river.'

‘No you won't little one,' a loud voice shouted above the roar of the rapids.

The coracle rose as Judd scooped them up in his cupped hands.

‘Dangerous place for little boats, this river. Dangerous place for anyone.'

Camelin looked very relieved.

Jack was unable to speak. He sat very still, trying to get used to the swaying motion as Judd carried them back to the shore. From this height, Jack could see the tree they'd struck formed the boundary of one of Judd's eel traps. A feeling of relief washed over him. Now they were safe, Jack tried to make some sense of their encounter with Velindur. He'd seen the hatred in his eyes as he'd stared directly at Camelin. Did he think Camelin was
The One
destined to be the King of Annwn? Velindur had never seen them together before as boys. At the trial Jack had been a raven and Camelin a boy. Jack didn't think Velindur would ever forget, or forgive anyone who'd been at the trial in Annwn, especially since that was the day he'd lost everything.

Jack held on tightly to the side of the coracle as Judd lowered it to the ground. He was grateful to be on dry land again. As he stepped onto the grass he shouted up to the giant.

‘You saved us. How can we ever thank you?'

‘You're my friends now,' replied Judd, ‘there's no need for thanks.'

Camelin looked very pale as he turned and glowered at Jack.

‘You know I can't swim.'

‘I know, but this is the last chance I've got to speak to Sabrina. I'm really sorry and I wish none of this had happened.'

As soon as the words had left his mouth, Jack realised he'd said something foolish. The soft mattress under his back told him he was back at Brenin House. He heard a moan and opened his eyes. Beside him was Camelin.

‘What did you do that for?' he grumbled. ‘You promised we could have some fun. There was no reason to come back once we were on dry land.'

‘It just happened, I only realised what I'd said when it was too late. I'm sorry but you know what this means, don't you?

Camelin shook his feathers and glowered at Jack.

‘It means I'm not a boy any more and I'm not going to get to go pond dipping.'

‘It means I might never find the missing piece of torc. You heard what Kerne said: once I was crowned we could go back to Elidon any time we want. We could have been boys together and had so much fun, but now, the lost treasure might be just that… lost forever.

‘You'll be fine, you're destined to be king, they all think so and you said that's what you saw in the Stone of Destiny.'

‘I also saw Velindur shaking a book.'

Jack watched Camelin hop onto the windowsill and fly off in the direction of Ewell House. He felt overwhelmed with sadness. There was a week to go until the race. He'd do his best to try to find out what had happened to the standing stone from Monument Hill. If he was destined to be crowned king there had to be a way to find the missing piece of torc. He stood for a long time looking at the sky before he got back into bed.

 

‘Rise and shine, it's race day! Come on sleepy head, up you get. It's a lovely morning.'

The last thing Jack wanted to do was get out of bed. Grandad sounded so excited. This was the big day they'd all been working towards so it was only fair to put his heart and soul into making the buggy race a success.

‘Eat your breakfast,' said Grandad as Jack walked into the kitchen. ‘We'll leave the washing up for later. I'll do one last check to make sure we've got everything and then we'll be off.'

Jack had never seen his grandad with such a spring in his step. As they arrived at Ewell House, Techno and his dad were dropping the back of the trailer down.

‘It's going to be a great day,' said Techno.

‘Yes,' replied Jack with all the enthusiasm he could muster.

With everyone helping, the
Comet
was safely loaded on the trailer in no time. Jack sat on the back seat between Elan and Techno. It was the first time he'd seen Elan all week. Nora had said she'd had something important to do but she hadn't said what. He managed to catch her eye and mouthed
sorry
to her. She nodded and smiled encouragingly even though she looked sad. There was nothing either of them could say or do until later. Jack tried to put everything except the race out of his mind. He listened and tried to join in with the excited chatter going on around him.

It took a while for them to reach the car park. There were hundreds of people milling around the village. It seemed everyone had made their way to Lillerton for the race. At least the sun was out and the forecast was good for the whole day. Unfortunately the grass was muddy. Pushing the buggy up the hill wasn't going to be easy. Once the
Comet
was off the trailer, Grandad helped Techno and his dad push it over to the starting line. Jack smiled when he saw how proud they looked standing next to it. The buggy glinted in the sunlight and looked as good as any of the others in the race, except for one bright red racing car at the end of the line. Max, Tank and Benbow stood next to their custom-made buggy having their photographs taken. The reporter and photographer from the local paper didn't seem interested in any of the others. Jack looked up at the trees. He wondered if the starlings would be there. It should be Crosspatch, Grubber and Snaffle, as they always had the first watch of the day. Movement in a tree opposite the refreshment tent caught his eye. There were three groups of starlings, each sitting in neat rows of five. It looked like the whole Flying Squad had flown over to see the race. Jack was left in no doubt as to who they were when Camelin landed beside them.