Escape from Wolfhaven Castle (14 page)

Sebastian retrieved his sword and Tom’s lost arrow, and the two boys ran after the unicorn. The little girl Eugenie stood next to the barrels, her thumb in her mouth.

‘Thank you for helping us, Eugenie,’ Quinn called to her.

She nodded her head in response.

A shout of warning rang out. Tom spun around. Men were running out of the guard-room at the far end of the courtyard, wielding weapons. ‘Stop them!’ a woman’s voice shouted. ‘I want them captured and destroyed!’

Lady Mortlake stood on the steps, her hair flying
in the wind like a tattered black mantle. Her eyes were strange and wild. The knights ran forward, swords glinting, their faces hidden behind their visors, and the bog-men came horribly to life, breaking into a run and shaking their spears.

The unicorn galloped across the courtyard, the two girls clinging to his back. Tom and Sebastian raced after them, Fergus at their heels, and the pursuing bog-men dangerously close. Then Eugenie pushed over one of the barrels, right in the path of the creatures. The barrel fell and broke, releasing a gush of some black, stinking liquid. Eugenie looked at Tom, her eyes filled with urgency, then she turned and ran into the stable.

The smell triggered a flash of memory for Tom. As he ran through the gateway, he grabbed one of the torches from its bracket on the wall and flung it behind him. At once, a great roaring wall of flame flared up. The soldiers and bog-men nearby were blown off their feet and had to scramble away to avoid being burned to death. As the flames filled the gateway, the soldiers ran for water, while Lady Mortlake screamed in anger, ‘Get them! Get them!’

But flames roared between the soldiers and the escaping children.

Tom ran after his friends into the dark, stormy night. Fergus barked victoriously, bounding along at the unicorn’s side. Above him, Elanor’s ring blazed, lighting the way.

Sebastian looked back at Tom, grinning. ‘A unicorn! Who would believe it? Maybe this mad quest is not so impossible after all!’

Behind the barrier of flame, Lady Mortlake screamed. ‘I will find you! I will find you wherever you hide, and I’ll have your guts for garters!’

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First published by Scholastic Australia in 2014.
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Australia Pty Limited, 2014.
E-PUB/MOBI eISBN: 978-1-925064-31-5

Text copyright © Kate Forsyth, 2014.
Cover illustration, maps and gifts by Jeremy Reston.
Logo design by blacksheep-uk.com.
Internal photography: brick texture on pages i and iii © GiorgioMagini | istockphoto.com; castle on page ii and folios © ivan-96 | istockphoto.com; skull on page 55 © Frankie_Lee | istockphoto.com; ring on page 73 © Czalewski | Dreamstime.com; dragon on page 84 © ZarkoCvijovic | istockphoto.com; bird on page 129 © Elena Belous | istockphoto.com; wolf head on page 165 © Tronin Andrei | shutterstock.com.

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