The Magic Lands (12 page)

Tom sighed. He was only a boy.
But he was expected to be more than that. How could he lead them?
If only he could be just a boy again, with no troubles or
responsibilities.

Jack came over to him and eyed
his friend. "I think I should have stayed at home," he said with a
small smile, apparently back to his old self again.

"And I think I should
have gone to
your
house for
the holidays!" Tom finished and they both chuckled briefly, but the
situation was too bleak for their good humour to last very
long.

"Perhaps now would be a good
time to consult the map," suggested Mo, "it will show the way to
Issylvan."

Tom did as the badger asked
him, kneeling down on the grass and unrolling the parchment. "Yes,"
he established after a few seconds, stabbing at the map with a
finger, "it is marked here."

"Which way must we travel?" the
badger enquired.

"East." Tom gathered up the
parchment and returned it to its place beneath his shirt.

Dredger went to stand apart
from the others. He was now a desolate man. All that he believed in
had seemed to disappear before his eyes and his heart was empty.
Where did his destiny lie now? His mind turned, as it always did,
to the Wolf.

Do you think you have won,
beast? The game is not yet over.

He bared his teeth in a bitter
smile. "Not yet," he said harshly under his breath.

"Well, Tom," spoke Mo, "shall
we move on?"

"Oh," the boy replied
tentatively, "I thought we'd be resting here awhile."

The badger gave a cursory
glance in Dredger's direction. "I think perhaps it would be better
to make camp elsewhere."

They headed east, the enigmatic
signposts ensuring that they did not stray too far from their
course.

After a while, when they had
walked for some miles, Tom suggested that they make camp. Of
course, with no sun to reckon by and never knowing when the light
would fade, it was difficult to judge how long they had spent
travelling. He remembered going to sleep when it had become dark
before, but was uncertain of when the light had returned. He could
not say how long had passed since then. He had lost all sense of
time, if that term could even apply here at all.

Dredger had become withdrawn
since they departed from Thauma's Ring, speaking only when
addressed and then offering no more than a curt reply. He now sat
beneath a small tree leaning back against it, his face blank.

"I will keep watch," the badger
said and moved off toward a thicket of undergrowth that grew wildly
about their camp place.

They had settled down below a
mossy bank, a stream idling by a few yards in front of them and
laying back, their heads resting comfortably against the
embankment, Tom and Jack let their bodies relax, but even so their
minds remained troubled.

"Tell me something," Jack said,
staring up at the featureless sky, "how can there be a land of snow
and ice anywhere near here?"

Tom pulled a face. "Anything
can happen in this place I suppose."

"I wish we were back in your
garden," Jack whispered, a tremor in his voice. His mind was beset
by strange thoughts and he was becoming more and more afraid,
although he did his best to hide it.

"I know," Tom agreed, unaware
of his friend’s private turmoil, "but don't worry, we'll get back
there."

They remained silent for a time
before Jack spoke again. "How far is this snow anyway?"

Tom adjusted his position a
little in an attempt to make himself more comfortable. "Not far, I
think, judging by the map."

"Well I suppose it's something
to look forward to," murmured Jack with a yawn.

"Go to sleep, will you," Tom
said, smiling.

Jack closed his eyes and once
again he dreamed.

He was walking through a
brightly lit forest of vibrant colours, some of the trees clad in
tawny leaves. Others waned to yellow and gold and fell about him as
he hurried on,

carpeting the floor. He knew
that he had an appointment to keep and it was very important that
he get there on time. He must not stop for anything.

Passing beneath an archway of
tall trees that leaned toward him on either side, Jack stepped into
a long garden covered with flourishing plants and flowers in full
bloom, making him feel as if he were emerging from autumn into
glorious summer. A myriad

fragrances assailed him
as he walked quickly along a pathway that led through the centre of
the garden, before coming upon a large willow tree, its branches
hanging very low, long leaves brushing the ground. Underneath it,
seated upon two wooden chairs, he saw a badger and a wolf playing
chess at a stone table and they smiled at him as he passed
by.
No time to stop and play
,
thought Jack moving swiftly on. Turning a corner, he squeezed
through a narrow opening in a thick hedge and immediately noticed a
pretty, golden-haired girl perched on a swing. She moved back and
forward, her skirt riding up around stockinged thighs. "Hello,
Jack," she called, but he didn't have time to answer.

Leaving the girl behind, Jack
walked in the shadow of an ashen tree and looking up into its
spreading branches he saw a man with red hair, sat astride a forked
bough just above his head. "Why don't you climb up, young Jack. You
can see things better from up here," he said but Jack just
increased his speed.

I must not
stop.
He tried to think where it was that he was
going?
Must get home for tea,
came the answer.
It's tea time and
I'm late!

He began to run and passing by
an ivy covered wall, he saw a cottage just ahead. The white walls
of the building glinted like ice.

Opening the door, Jack
breathlessly peered inside. "What's for tea?" he called with

anticipation.

At a table, the woman in white
waited for him. "Come here and see," she said.

Tom couldn't sleep and he
wasn't certain that he really wanted to. His mind kept telling him
to stay awake, an insistent voice that nagged at him.

What am I
going to do?
His thoughts turned back to what Dredger
had said. It was

stupid, how could
he
be their leader?

I suppose I
could find the way to the forest of ice, whatever that might be,
but what then? The map doesn't say anything about the caves of,
what was it again? Rith-ran something or other. How do I find
them?
It all seemed impossible. He knew he could
depend on the badger and there was always Jack. And he supposed
Dredger would come in handy if they had to fight. But still he felt
very alone. He was conscious of a burden upon him, although why or
how he came to carry it was beyond his understanding. He was
certainly having to grow up. An old man at fourteen! He smiled to
himself, closing his eyes. He thought about the girl, Lisa. He
liked to think about her.

You're the girl of my
dreams.

"Shall we play a game?" she
asked.

"Yes," agreed Tom.

"Then try to catch me if you
can!" With that she ran off into the mouth of a dark cave and
laughing, Tom went after her.

Jack sat at the table and
waited.

The woman stood over him and
smiled gently, her red lips a smouldering contrast against the pure
white of her dress. "Have you been a good boy?" she asked. Jack
nodded fiercely. "I've got something for you then."

He opened his eyes wide with
expectation. What could it be?

She held out her hand and
offered him a parchment tied with a white ribbon.

"What is it?" he wondered
aloud, trying to hide his impatience.

"A map, of course, you silly
boy," the woman told him, her smile never faltering.

Taking it in his sweaty palms,
Jack clutched it tight to his chest. "It's lovely," he drooled,
"thank you. Thank you very much."

The woman touched his
cheek, running a long fingernail gently across his skin. "Remember
Jack. The map is yours. Do not let anyone steal it away from you.
Keep it safe, especially from dirty little thieves. The map
is
yours."

Jack held the parchment even
more tightly, hugging it to himself and nodded earnestly. "Thank
you," he said again, grinning.

Dredger too found sleep
elusive. His mind slipped back through time, searching the depths
of memory, desperately seeking for something that might restore his
stricken faith. One small hope.

The stones, the runes, the
poems. The prophecies! Now more than at any other time he had to
know what they really meant.

Far down in the dismal pit of
his mind he found a verse his father had often recited to him, the
words leaping forth from the darkness as letters of fire.

Out of despair will come
peace

and sacrifice shall come from
the weak,

the warrior must walk his own
road,

to find the truth he would
seek.

So face the mask of the
beast

and remember the wolf and his
shape,

for those who drink of the
wine,

are only as sweet as the
grape.

Father, I will not forget
you.

Dredger looked out at the sky
and in that second darkness fell. Perhaps now he would be able to
sleep. A glance at the boys laying nearby assured him that they
were already sleeping and he nodded slowly to himself. That was
good. They would need all of their strength for the trials
ahead.

At the edge of their small camp
the badger was on watch, concealed within a dense thicket of
foliage and confident that Mo could be relied upon, he let himself
relax at last, his muscles loosening. "May my dreams be of the
past," he murmured, as the night closed in.

Tom entered the darkness and
stopped. "I will catch you," he breathed, peering into the inky
regions of the cave.

"Come and get me," the girl's
voice sang out and moving as quickly as he could through the
blackness, he went toward the sound of her voice.

Just a little way ahead, a tiny
flicker of light became visible.

"Tom, Tom," she teased.

"I
will
catch you," he said again, his voice full
of determination.

As he came upon the light he
found it to be a small lantern hanging from the roof of the cave.
Its shadowy radiance illuminated the place with a pale, phantom
glow.

Suddenly, the girl jumped out
at him, having been hidden somehow in the shadows. "Boo," she said
softly.

She stood just a few feet away
from him and Tom was immediately overcome by the impulse to reach
out and touch her, to stroke her creamy skin. He looked into her
eyes and became lost there.

"You caught me, Tom," she said
quietly, her eyes never leaving his.

"Yes." Tom didn't know what he
should do, but he thought that he would really like to kiss her.
But as he hesitated, a shadow began to rise above her head, a great
silhouette of darkness that quickly engulfed her body and blinded
him. "No…" he groaned.

"Oh yes," hissed a woman's
voice, low and threatening.

With his heart beating very
fast, his eyes useless in the blackness, Tom felt the touch of a
cold, clammy thing upon his neck. Up it slithered, caressing his
cheek, following the line of his jaw until it came to rest upon his
lips. He could not move.

Tom closed his eyes even though
he could not see, a scream beginning to rise in his throat.

"Don't you want me now?" asked
the voice gently at his ear. Icy breath touched him and he
shuddered.

"Who are you?" he managed, his
mouth dry.

"
Rith, Rith, Rith-ran-ro-en,

go to the end

and turn back again.

Rith, Rith, Rith-ran-ro-el,

who is your true love?

only time
will tell
."

Tom very slowly opened his eyes
and before him was a deep blue sea. He was no longer inside the
cave.

He stood on a high bluff,
overlooking the water that gently ebbed, everything peaceful. In
the sky above the sun was a fiery ball, beating down with such
ferocity that he felt hot and sticky.

I must find Jack!

He felt that this was very
important and looking about him, he scanned the vicinity for some
sign of his friend. But there was no-one there other than himself.
All he could see was water and all around him, green trees that
receded along the coastline.

"Jack! Oh, Jack!" called a
voice. From an archway cut and shaped from a nearby hedge, stepped
a woman. She was very beautiful, her clothing all of shimmering
white.

"Have you seen little Jack?"
she asked him casually. Tom shook his head. "If you see him," she
said, coming closer to him, her ruby lips seeming to expand,
crowding his vision, "tell him that I am looking for him. Yes?"

"I will," promised Tom,
slightly dazed.

The woman smiled, perhaps a
little thinly, but Tom didn't really mind. After all, she had
smiled at him.

"Good boy," she said and then
turned to walk away.

"Goodbye," Tom called after
her, sorry to see her go so soon, but the woman made no response
and soon disappeared back through the archway.

Tom scratched his head. How did
she know Jack anyway? He would have to ask him as soon as he found
out where he was. Wherever that might be. Now though, it was time
to go home for dinner. He was certainly hungry and Aunt Emily was
sure to have prepared a good meal for him. While they ate Ira would
probably ask him what he had been up to all day and Tom would tell
his Uncle all about the woman in white. But there was just one
small problem. He wasn't quite sure which way he should go to get
home.