The Serpent in the Glass (The Tale of Thomas Farrell) (34 page)

‘Hello, Og Tiarna!’

Thomas almost jumped into the wood at the sound of the voice. He turned around, and before him stood Ghillie Dhu with a half-eaten chicken drumstick in one hand. ‘Where’d you come from?’

‘Ghillie’s been here all the time,’ the Gruagach said.

Thomas glanced at the danglevine. ‘I thought you’d run back into the wood.’

A deep furrow grew in the Gruagach’s wrinkled brow. ‘No, Ghillie not go back into Muddlestump. No Og Tiarna in wood. No chicken dumbsticks.’

So Penders wasn’t to blame for the disappearing food after all. ‘It’s chicken
drumsticks
, but how come I never saw you?’

The others had left the picnic now, and gathered around to listen.

‘Ghillie not want to be seen, Og Tiarna.’

Thomas frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Ghillie close his eyes and no one see him.’ The Gruagach nodded confidently.

‘Oh, come on!’ Merideah said. ‘That’s silly. You can’t believe people won’t see you just because you close your eyes!’

Ghillie flashed a disapproving look at Merideah, and then firmly shut his eyes. Much to everyone’s surprise he vanished as completely as the walls of the Grange when the carriage came through the Inner Gate. Ghillie reappeared again next to Merideah and she gave a start.

‘How very disconcerting,’ she said, as she stepped away from the creature.

‘Craters!’ said Penders. ‘How’d you learn that trick?’

‘Not learn it, Hungry One. All Gruagachs can do it. And it not trick either.’ He wrinkled his fleshy nose as if insulted.

Thomas watched as Ghillie swallowed the remainder of the drumstick, bones included. ‘You mean there are more of you in the wood?’

Ghillie blinked, but didn’t disappear. ‘Not in Muddlestump, Ghillie never met any there. But he remembers others like him before the Ard Tiarnai left.’

The Gruagach looked suddenly a little lost in thought, but it didn’t last long. ‘Ah!’ Ghillie exclaimed. ‘My staff!’ He sauntered over to the place where Gallowglas had stuck it in the ground. ‘Mean One best not take Ghillie’s staff again. No! Ghillie will show him!’ But his bluster soon faded as he eyed the picnic and the food that Penders hadn’t yet eaten.

Not long after Ghillie had devoured his third drumstick, Thomas heard the sound of hooves in the distance. He looked southward. A group of riders were approaching, Trevelyan at their head.

‘Aarrgh! Old One back,’ Ghillie thrust his staff into Thomas’s hand, shut his eyes, and winked out of sight. Thomas could still feel him though, clinging to his leg.

Behind Trevelyan rode Gallowglas, on a grey steed, and a dozen young warriors with crossbows strapped to their saddles. Another man, wearing a tan leather jerkin and with a short sword at his belt, rode beside Trevelyan. He had a hard face like Gallowglas, but his hair was shaven so that he looked almost bald. Thomas seemed to remember him from the Feast of Fires.

‘Thomas,’ Trevelyan said as they approached. ‘Jump up behind me!’

‘Where are we going?’ Thomas asked as the High Cap’s dun horse came to a stop beside him.

‘To Cnocmorandolmen.’ Trevelyan reached out his hand to Thomas.

‘Why?’ Thomas grabbed the High Cap’s hand.

‘To finish what was started.’

Thomas nodded. As he shoved the crook staff in his belt, he felt Ghillie climb up onto his back. The Gruagach was surprisingly light. Thomas took Trevelyan’s hand and managed to clamber up onto the saddle behind him. As soon as he was seated he felt the Gruagach slip into place behind him, his furry arms tightening around Thomas’s midriff. The horse whinnied nervously and Thomas bit his lip as one of Ghillie’s claws pressed into his side.

‘What about us?’ Penders said.

‘It may be dangerous,’ Gallowglas said.

Merideah looked from Gallowglas to Trevelyan. ‘The Fachan was dangerous, Muddlestump Wood was dangerous. But we dealt with it.’

Trevelyan chuckled. ‘We best let them come then, Master Gallowglas, or else we shall not hear the end of it!’

Gallowglas sighed before instructing five of his men to bear them on their mounts.

The High Cap urged his horse off at a gallop before Thomas could see his friends mount. After about a minute, Thomas’s fear of falling off subsided, and he felt himself enjoying the rush of Trevelyan’s horse as the powerful mare ran hard toward the Inner Gate. They rode swiftly down the dirt track once out the Gate, and passed several of the Darkledun Guards who were all stiffly making their way in the same direction as the horses. It was too hard to hold a conversation whilst riding at such speed, so he decided to wait until they arrived before asking his questions. When they arrived at Cnocmorandolmen Thomas found Gallowglas and the broad man in the tanned leather already there and dismounted. The riders bearing Thomas’s friends came up behind. A number of Suits were gathering around the hill, and more were making their way toward it from the dirt track.

‘We should wait for the rest of the Guards,’ Gallowglas said to Trevelyan as the High Cap climbed down from his mare.

‘I fear we cannot delay much longer. We’ll wait for the Fourth Company.’ Trevelyan helped Thomas down as he spoke.

Gallowglas nodded and started issuing orders to the crossbowmen and Guards, but Thomas wasn’t listening.

‘Was I wrong to try and heal the Way Gate?’ Thomas asked. ‘When Dugan said it had faded I —’

‘No, you weren’t wrong,’ Mr Trevelyan interrupted. ‘You were only doing what had to be done, sooner or later.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Thomas said as Trevelyan led him to the standing stones.

‘The Eastern Way Gate,’ — Trevelyan held his left hand out — ‘leads to my land, the land of the Humbalgogs. It only opens when it rains.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Thomas wasn’t sure it was the right thing to say.

‘We tried pouring water on it, but that never worked.’ Trevelyan looked at the sky. ‘Still, it rains every so often, even in a sidhe. The Western Way Gate is less accommodating, though more predictable. It opens only on the night of the full moon. It leads to the lands of the Alfar, as I’m sure you already know.’

Thomas nodded.

Trevelyan walked around the Gate leading to the Manor. ‘The Gate to your world is pretty reliable, though it’s been getting worse of late.’ Trevelyan moved to the Northern Way Gate. It looked quite normal again. The blue field of energy had gone. It stood still and silent. ‘You already know about this one.’ Trevelyan put his hand upon the smooth surface of the stone. ‘It faded some years ago, and in so doing cut us off from the Dwerugh. There was only ever one Gate leading to the Dwerughnook.’ Trevelyan placed his other hand on the stone. His expression had turned from its normal cheerfulness to one of sorrow.

Thomas moved closer to the stones. ‘But the De Danann built these didn’t they? Miss Havelock didn’t seem to know for sure, but I think they did.’

‘I think you’re right.’ A slight smile played upon Trevelyan’s boyish face.

‘How’d the power of the De Danann fail?’ Thomas asked. ‘I thought they were strong in this Old Power?’

‘All things fail in time in this world, and your world too, Thomas Farrell,’ Trevelyan said. ‘There is a power even greater than that of the De Danann, and that is Time.’

Thomas nodded. ‘So where’d the Fachan come from?’

Trevelyan frowned. ‘Those creatures seek out caves or ruined stone buildings in which to dwell. It is said they can survive for years without food. When the Gate finally faded, it’s possible that the Fachan entered and then became trapped. But it’s strange…’ Trevelyan broke off and seemed lost in his thoughts.

Thomas looked at the High Cap, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

‘Strange because they’re rare, but also strange because they are creatures quite immune to the Old Power, unless it is very strong. No one knows why. It’s just the nature of the beast, so to speak.’

Thomas looked at the stones again. ‘So what happened when I tried to use the Glass? What was the blue light?’

‘I think the Glass fed enough power into the Gate to cause it to eject anything within it. I really would be guessing, but I suppose the Fachan may have been preserved within the stones and when you used the Glass you probably woke it up, and it discovered it was in need of a meal!’ Trevelyan said as he looked back over his shoulder. Thomas did likewise. More of the Darkledun Guards were making their way through the forest toward them now.

‘Why all the Suits?’ Thomas said.

‘We have no way of knowing what might be on the other side of this Gate, and if my understanding of things is correct Cernunnos will detect our presence the moment the Way Gate begins to be healed.’ Trevelyan nodded his head as if to agree with his own analysis of the matter.

‘We’re going to heal the Way Gate?’ Thomas asked. He could feel his heart beating at the words the High Cap had just spoken.

Trevelyan looked at Thomas. ‘
You
are. You have the Serpent in the Glass, and it’s what you want, isn’t it?’

Thomas hesitated before responding. ‘Yes, I suppose, but it’d be better if I gave the Glass to you, seeing as you’re good with this Old Power.’

The High Cap sighed. ‘Ah, Thomas, don’t you know yet? Only you alone in this Grange can use the Glass.’

The words surprised Thomas, not because he hadn’t suspected the truth of the matter, but rather because it had just been so unmistakably confirmed to him by the High Cap. It explained why the Glass hadn’t allowed his friends to pass the Way Gates when they held it, and perhaps it also explained why it had given them no dreams. The Glass was meant for him and him alone. It was his father’s, and now it was his — whatever danger that might bring, whatever it required him to do.

‘Ah, Thomas,’ Trevelyan said, as Gallowglas and the large man in the tanned leather walked up to them. ‘This here with Master Gallowglas is our Chief Combat Instructor, Master Salus.’

The broad man, who reminded Thomas more of what he thought a blacksmith should look like than a combat instructor, dipped his head. ‘Nice to meet you, Thomas Farrell. Master Gallowglas has told me all about you.’

Thomas smiled back awkwardly. What would Gallowglas have told Master Salus about him? Probably nothing good.

Gallowglas ignored Thomas. ‘We should take up positions.’

‘Quite right.’ The High Cap turned to Thomas. ‘Are you ready?’

Thomas gave a nod and removed the Glass from his bag. Gallowglas’s eyes flickered over the orb, but Thomas saw no surprise in them. Had Trevelyan and Gallowglas known all along that he’d had the Glass? The Serpent in the Glass glowed as Thomas held it up. But what did he need to do? Maybe Ghillie knew? He’d not felt the creature nearby since he’d climbed off the horse. Then the Glass pulled at him, and Thomas knew what he needed to do. He touched the Glass against the stones, the Way Gate began to hum. A subdued hum.

The High Cap put a hand against the stones and gave a satisfied nod. ‘Gallowglas!’

‘Guards, enter!’ Gallowglas barked.

Thomas watched as the Suits marched, four wide, into the Way Gate. Once they were inside, Gallowglas and Salus entered, followed closely by the men with the crossbows.

‘Fifth Company, guard the far wall!’ Gallowglas shouted as Thomas and Trevelyan entered. Twelve Suits moved toward the far side of the cavern, sunk the base of their spears into the ground, and stood still like statues.

The cavern was dimmer than the one in the Manor Way Gate, as if weak or tired. As Thomas looked around he saw Jessica, Penders and the others enter. They stood right at the back behind the crossbow-armed men and Master Salus.

‘Now, children,’ Trevelyan said before any of them could speak, ‘Master Salus will stay with you just inside the entrance of the cavern. Should anything go wrong he’ll take you back through the Manor Way Gate immediately — do you understand?’

They all nodded solemnly. Thomas wondered what might go wrong. As he really had no idea how to heal a Way Gate, he wondered if anything would go right at all. Where was Ghillie?

‘Are you all right, Mr Penderghast?’ Trevelyan asked.

Thomas looked at Penders. He looked a little ill and was rubbing his chest.

‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ Penders said through gritted teeth. ‘Just a little indigestion. Too much beetroot maybe. Sure it’ll be over soon. Never lasts long.’ He looked at Thomas. ‘Good luck!’

Thomas felt encouraged by the words, but as Trevelyan led him a little further forward he looked ahead and his heart sunk. Where the far exit should’ve been, Thomas saw a vast blackness. The dim light of the cavern’s walls didn’t penetrate it. It was like a great shadow.

Another company of the Darkledun Guards had lined themselves up against this far exit in front of where the High Cap and Thomas now stood. Gallowglas loomed somewhere behind them. Thomas thought the grim teacher must’ve felt at home in such a bleak, brooding place. Thomas certainly didn’t.

Trevelyan pulled out a copper coin from a pouch attached to his belt. He mumbled something, but Thomas couldn’t make it out. ‘Watch!’ he said as he flung the coin at the blackness ahead. As the coin reached the hole it stopped and fell to the floor. Was the darkness so thick it had substance to it? But before Thomas could even wonder at the thought, the darkness seemed to writhe about, as if something had unsettled it. It was grotesque, as if some vile bodies were trapped within, seeking to escape and wreak havoc on the world. After a few seconds it went still again.

‘Some sort of barrier. I fear Cernunnos has had a hand in this,’ Mr Trevelyan began quite calmly, ‘but there’s not much we can do about it. Thomas, it is time to use the Glass.’

Thomas took a breath and held up the glowing Glass.

‘Keep the Guards between you and the barrier at all times,’ the High Cap warned. ‘If Cernunnos detects what’s going on, he may attempt to counter it.’

Thomas closed his eyes. What on earth was he doing? How could he stand against Cernunnos if he showed up? He was just an eleven-year-old boy! But his father had entrusted him with the Glass. He needed to believe in himself. Pushing the scary thoughts of Cernunnos aside, he concentrated upon the Glass and then lifted an eyelid: the Glass seemed quite unchanged. He closed his eye and tried to think about the barrier. He opened his eyes. Still the Glass looked no different. What was he doing wrong? Then he had a thought. The Glass had glowed strongly when he’d been asleep, or on the edge of it at least. Maybe he should try to sleep? Thomas relaxed and tried to forget about where he was. Shutting his eyes, he tried to calm his thoughts and slow his rapidly beating heart.