SandRider (20 page)

Tod became aware that the Witch Mother's
Grasp
had loosened. Her hand was now merely resting lightly on her shoulder. Tod longed to break away and run free, but she forced herself to
stay where she was. If she ran now she would be leaving Oskar and Ferdie to their fate. She must stay calm and try to think. There
must
be something she could do . . . but what?

The flames leaped higher and the
Hum
began to morph into a chant:

Sprites burn bright!

Light the night!

Light the night!

Sprites burn bright!

The chant jolted the Witch Mother from her
Hum
-induced daze. Completely forgetting her
Grasp
, she raised her hands in the air and shouted, “Coven, stop! Though twilight is falling it is not yet night. We will wait until Mother Moon rises over the Guardian Ash.” She smiled. “We shall have our sprite bones soon enough, fear not.”

Above the quarry, through the bare boughs of the tallest tree—which Tod guessed to be the Guardian Ash—she saw the white gleam of a full moon. The
Hum
began once more, growing louder and faster as though to speed the moon upward and send her clear of its fine dark tracery of branches.

Star and Ariel looked at each other, aghast. The coven was about to burn two kids from the Castle. What would the Queen have to say about that? It would be good-bye to their free food at Wizard Sandwiches for sure. As the remorseless hum of the Witch Circle continued, Ariel slipped from the Circle and vanished into the shadows.

Marissa stumbled along, muttering the rudest words she could think of—she had a fine collection and many to choose from. Marissa could not believe how fast things could go wrong. She had gone to all the trouble of fixing a very successful
OverRide
and getting the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice into the Forest only to have two stupid kids on a sled get in the way. As she had raced after the Apprentice she had tripped over a branch and lost her
FleetFoot
and now the sled was too far ahead for her to get to it before it got to the coven's quarry. The Witch Mother would have her fat claws on the Apprentice by now. She was in big trouble. Cursing her bad luck, Marissa hobbled along as fast as she could, a stitch
nagging at her side, the cold air making her wheeze and her twisted ankle jabbing at her.

Marissa had not wanted to involve the Witch Mother in her Apprentice snatch, but Morwenna Mould had found out and insisted on being in on the deal. Marissa had had no choice but to agree to send Tod to the quarry. However, she had not intended for Tod to actually get there. She had planned to catch her up with her
FleetFoot
and divert her out of the gulley well before she reached the coven. Marissa figured that by the time the Witch Mother realized what had happened, she and Tod would be far away.

But now, Marissa thought bitterly, everything was ruined. Morwenna Mould had her prize and all the power the sorcerer had promised her would go to that pig of a Witch Mother. It was so
unfair
. Marissa stomped angrily along the gulley, but when she came to the gap through which she had planned to take Tod, she stopped. Maybe, she thought, all was not lost. She could still go to the midnight meeting with the sorcerer, she just wouldn't have the Apprentice with her. But that didn't have to be a disaster. In fact, thought Marissa, things could turn out even better than she had planned.

Marissa smiled. She knew exactly what she would do. She
would tell the sorcerer that she had been double-crossed. She would say that Morwenna Mould had kidnapped the Apprentice and planned to use her for her own benefit. She would fix it so that the sorcerer saw the Witch Mother as a dangerous adversary who must be vanquished at once. Marissa smiled. Yes, she could see it now . . . marching into the Winter Circle with the powerful sorcerer at her side . . . a quick
ThunderFlash
aimed at the Witch Mother . . . maybe a
Darke Dart
. . . or both.
Both
, thought Marissa. It served the old cow right. And when it had worked, when the fat old carcass of Morwenna Mould was lying on the ground having done all the nasty stuff it was ever going to do, then she, Marissa Janice Lane, would proclaim herself Witch Mother and that would be that. No one would dare oppose her with Oraton-Marr at her side. That would pay old Moldy Face back for all those nights she had spent scrubbing the burned wolverine stew off the bottom of the cooking pot. Marissa broke into a broad smile. She knew she could persuade the sorcerer to do as she wished—men usually did what she wanted.

Marissa slipped through a gap in the rock hidden by snow-covered ivy and in seconds was hurrying along the steep footpath that would take her around the top of the quarry
and on the long journey to her meeting with the sorcerer. She wrapped her witch cloak around her for protection, trusting that she would not meet a pack of wolverines. That, thought Marissa, would be just her luck.

As the moon moved slowly up through the outer tracery of the top of the Guardian Ash, Jenna was climbing the ladder to Galen's treehouse, watched by the bright yellow eyes of a tiger hidden in the undergrowth. Jenna had released Jim Knee and told him to return to the Castle, but on principle the jinnee did not obey the command at once. He liked to retain the illusion of free will. And besides, though he would not admit it to himself, he wanted to see the Queen safely up in the treehouse, away from the nighttime danger that always lurked on the Forest floor.

Galen's treehouse was a complex affair consisting of many platforms, pods, linking ladders and ropes spread across three ancient oaks. As Jenna stopped on the first landing and reached up to pull a vine to signal her arrival, she heard
a sharp hiss from the Forest floor. She looked down to see Ariel's anxious face looking up at her.

“Queen Jenna,” Ariel said, all in a rush, “you have to come! Something awful is going to happen in the Witch Circle.”

Jenna had little interest in what was happening in the Witch Circle and absolutely no wish to go back into the nighttime Forest. From what she had heard from Ariel and Star in the past few months, she understood that awful things often happened in the Circle. The less she knew about them, the better, Jenna thought. “It's none of my business,” she said briskly, and went to pull the vine.

“But it
is
your business,” Ariel insisted. “They're going to burn two Castle kids.”

Jenna's hand froze in midair.
“What?”
she whispered.

“Please, Queen Jenna,” said Ariel. “Come
now
. There isn't much time.”

The moon broke free from the last tracery of the Guardian Ash. All witches' eyes were upon the Snow Sprites, who,
now that all their snow had melted, looked worryingly like real children. But not one of the witches said a word—some because they dared not and many because they didn't care. They were having a great night, so why spoil it?

Star glanced anxiously up at the small gap in the trees where the path ran down to the quarry, but she saw nothing. Around her the sprite chant grew ever louder:

Sprites burn bright!

Light the night!

Light the night!

Sprites burn bright!

Tod had managed to sneak a
Charm
from her Apprentice belt and she was now clasping a tiny silver snail shell. This was for an
UnSeen
that gave her the highest protection possible from harm—and Tod reckoned she needed all the protection she could get. Silently, she began the
Incantation
and to her relief, Morwenna—despite her heavy hand resting on Tod's shoulder—did not notice, for Tod's substance was unchanged. Many of the witches saw the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice slowly disappear, but not one dared mention it.
Some actually felt relieved—at least one of the children might survive the night.

Ferdie and Oskar, still under the fearsome
Grasps
of Bryony and Madron, were mercifully unaware of what was in store. As the two witches slowly walked Ferdie and Oskar toward the fire, Tod carefully lifted Morwenna's hand from her shoulder and stepped out of her reach. The Witch Mother, enthralled by the chant and the sheer excitement of the moment, did not notice.

As Bryony and Madron propelled Ferdie and Oskar nearer to the flames, within her
UnSeen
, Tod was so close that she could have reached out and touched them. The chanting was drawing toward a crescendo and Tod knew there would come a moment when the two witches must release Oskar and Ferdie from their
Grasps
in order to hurl them into the flames, and at that point she would have to act with lightning speed. Stealthily as Jim Knee himself, Tod padded beside Oskar and Ferdie, matching them step for step, waiting to pounce.

All eyes in the quarry were on the witches and their victims as they creeped ever closer toward the fire. Tod's gaze did not leave Ferdie and Oskar for one second. By now
they were so close to the fire that the heat was searing. Tod braced herself.
Any moment now
, she told herself.
Any . . . moment . . .

It happened fast. In a sudden, synchronized movement, Bryony and Madron released their
Grasps
.

Ferdie and Oskar saw the flames. They screamed.

Tod pounced. She pulled them back from the fire, yelling, “It's me, Tod! Run! Run!” Bryony and Madron lunged at them,
Grasping
hands outstretched, but Ferdie and Oskar were racing away, with Tod's voice behind them shouting, “Run! Run!”

But they were not free yet. The Witch Circle had closed ranks. The Tribe of Three were now surrounded by a steely necklace of blue witchy eyes.

“Rush them!”
yelled Tod.

The Witch Circle joined arms like a chain-link fence and began a strangely pulsing
Hum
:
thrummer-thrum-thrum
,
thrummer
-thrum-thrum
, spinning a web around them, making them dizzy. Ferdie and Oskar stopped at the witch fence, bewildered, like sheep reaching the boundary of their pen. They turned to Tod just in time to see her
UnSeen
slowly leave her.

Morwenna Mould's deep laugh cut through the
Hum
. “Ha! I see the Sprites have some spirit!” she said. “And I see the Apprentice has too. Well, well, let us have some fun with them, let us see them
really
run.” The Witch Mother walked over to the fire and drew out a burning branch. “They will run fast with this behind them!”

A brave, lone shout came from the Circle. “Witch Mother! The Apprentice is meant for the sorcerer!”

“And he can have her—when we are done with her—and some nice, toasty sprite bones as an extra gift.”

With the burning branch in her hand, the Witch Mother walked very slowly toward Tod, Oskar and Ferdie, enjoying her power.

“I'm sorry,” Tod said.

“What for?” asked Ferdie.

“Because I should do something. But I don't know what.”

“Scream?” Ferdie suggested.

And so they did—all three together.

The Witch Circle laughed and screamed back. Once again, the
Scream
of the Wendron Witch coven rang throughout the Forest.

Jenna, Jim Knee and Ariel were heading for the path that led down to the quarry, when the
Scream
began. It drifted up, eerie and piercing, and caused a fluttering of night owls rising from the trees in panic. Ariel's hearing was acute, she had already heard the brief screams of Ferdie, Oskar and Tod and she suspected that the witch
Scream
was being used to cover up the sound of genuine screams, which did sometimes upset the more sensitive witches. Ariel feared it would all be over by the time they arrived at the Circle, but she dared not tell Jenna that.

Ariel glanced around to check that the Queen and her tiger were still following. Jenna saw the fear in the young witch's eyes and felt sick. The path wound endlessly ahead and she knew that at the end of it they had to scramble down the steep, rocky path into the quarry. There was no time left.

“Ariel, stop!” Jenna called.

Ariel swung around and looked at the Queen. So she, too,
knew it was all over. “I . . . I am so,
so
sorry—” Ariel began, but Jenna cut her off.

“I shall send my jinnee,” she said.

Ariel looked blank.

“The tiger. He's a jinnee.”

Ariel's eyes widened in surprise. This Queen was worth keeping on the right side of. “Oh,” she said. “Yes, I knew that.”

“You know the way. Show him. You will be faster than I. If the Castle kids need any help you must give it. And I don't care what you have to do, okay?”

Ariel nodded.

Jenna kneeled down beside the tiger and searched for a hint of understanding in its yellow eyes. She saw none, but she knew she must assume the best. “Jim Knee,” Jenna said. “I command you to follow Ariel with all speed. She will show you the way to the Witch's Quarry. Go as fast as you can. You will find Castle children there. I command you to bring them to me safe and well.” Jenna stood up. “Go!”

Jenna watched the tiger bounding after the young witch, who glanced behind her and looked, not surprisingly, a little anxious.

Tod, Ferdie and Oskar had linked arms and were facing the witches. Like an ever-tightening noose, the Witch Circle was closing in, pushing the Tribe of Three back toward the flames. The hypnotic pulse of the
Hum
made each step toward the heat of the fire feel oddly unreal.