The Dark Portal (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 3) (12 page)

Snowdrop glanced at Jake.
“Have you ever sent a message by Inkbug before, Lord Griffon?”

Jake
shook his head.

“It’s quite simple. All you have
to do is tell him what you want to say and he’ll transmit the message for you through his antennae. Then, on your aunt’s end, Her Ladyship’s Inkbug will receive the message through
his
antenna and write it out for her in the usual way.” Snowdrop pointed at the flat, open inkpad on the table.

That part Jake had seen before.

When an Inkbug received an incoming message, it would run across the inkpad to get ink on all its many tiny feet. It would run back and forth across a sheet of paper to spell out the message for the recipient.

Snowdrop gestured toward the door. “
We can step out if you want to send your message privately—”

“
No, no, that’s all right.”

“
Try to keep it short or you’ll confuse the little fellow,” Isabelle advised.

Jake nodded, then turned to the Inkbug. “Er, are you ready?”

The little furry caterpillar rose up onto its many back legs; the front half nodded.

“Right. Ahem, well
then,” he said uncertainly, “here’s my message. Dear Aunt Ramona: How do I refresh the old protection spells around the estate? Please send instructions as soon as you receive this message. Thanks, Jake.”

For the next minute, the Inkbug twitched its antennae around with a great air of concentration, sending out the message through the ethers to Aunt Ramona’s Inkbug all the way back in England. Jake hoped the grand old baroness was at home, and not in London or off at Windsor Castle visiting her friend of many years, Queen Victoria.

“That should do it,” Snowdrop said when the Inkbug stopped flicking its antennae around and collapsed on its fuzzy little belly after its efforts.

“Thank you,” Jake told the creature, then
turned to the others. “Do you think we’ll hear back from her soon?”

“Sure, though she may h
ave to do some research on whichever spells were used,” Archie said.

When
Jake glanced over at him, the boy genius now had an odd-looking black cylinder thing like a camera lens over one eye, with a leather strap around his head holding it in place. “What are you wearing on your eye?”

“I don’t know, but I like it.”

“That would be the Vampire Monocle, my lord,” Snowdrop told him. “It lets you see in the dark. One of your ancestors had to clear out a coven of vampires once in London. Horrid people, vampires. Can’t turn your back on them.”

“Blimey,” Jake said.

Just then, Dani O’Dell peered through the secret bookcase doorway, which was still open behind them. “Hey, you lot! Come out front, I have to show you something. And hurry!”

“You come and see some stuff!”
Archie called back, but she had already dashed away again, giggling.

Jake
cast his cousins a rueful smile. “Carrot-head’s got something up her sleeve.”

“
Indeed,” Archie said.

“
Let’s go see what she’s up to,” Isabelle said.

“You’re all through here?” Snowdrop asked.

Jake nodded. “Will you let me know as soon as my aunt sends back a reply?”

Snowdrop assured him she would, then they all left the mysterious Archive room to see what Dani wanted. They found her out front, waiting for them with Teddy.

“Well?” Jake asked as they filed out into the darkness.

“Ladies and gentlemen, presenting…the world’s first glow-in-the-dark dog!” She started singing some jaunty old Irish song,
and Teddy began to sparkle.

They burst out laughing in amazement.

“You dusted him with Illuminium?” Archie asked.

Dani nodded but kept singing.

The twinkling terrier wagged his tail eagerly, glancing around at them. He clearly thought he looked very handsome doused in sparkles, and loved being the center of attention. Dani got him to dance, balancing on his hind legs, which made them laugh harder, but nobody was prepared for it when Teddy began lifting off the ground.

He started floating as he glowed and Dani stopped singing with a gasp. Her dog landed back on the ground and she quickly picked him up. “I don’t want him to float away!”

The others were applauding the show.

“Well done! Bravo!”

The girl and her dog took a bow. “But I don’t understand why Teddy started floating. The dwarves didn’t say anything about that.”

“Illuminium is a magical element
with unknown properties, Miss O’Dell,” Archie said. “It may react differently on animals or even vary among individuals. In short, you probably shouldn’t be fooling around with it.”

“Like you weren’t fooling around with the Phantom Fetcher and the Vampire Monocle?” Jake drawled.

“I am a scientist,” Archie informed him.

“Y
ou’re a quiz,” Jake replied.

But since Archie usually knew what he was talking about, Dani
quickly dusted the Illuminium off Teddy’s coat. She did not want to take any chances of her beloved dog floating away. “Well, as long as we cheered everyone up.”

“You did. Thanks.” Jake glanced at the starry sky, but his heart sank
a bit. Still no sign of Red.

Isabelle glanced around at them. “I
have another idea of something we could do.” She bit her lip against a shy smile, then said, “How about I take you all to see the unicorns?”

“Really?” Jake exclaimed.

“It’s a little late, isn’t it?” Archie asked.

“It’s not yet eight o’clock. We could go out for an hour and still be back well before bedtime. You won’t regret it,” she added.
“They’re even more beautiful in the moonlight.”

“Do you think
you can find them out there within an hour, Izzy? The woods are huge,” Dani said.

“I
can always find them. Being near them fills a person with the most peaceful feeling. I just thought we could all use some of that after today.”

“
True. But what about the boys?”

“They
’ll just have to stay back a little and keep a safe distance.”

“Er,
and the tree goblins?” Dani ventured with a nervous glance over her shoulder. “If we go out into the woods at night, what if the greenies crawl down from the trees and try to get us?”

“
Nah, Emrys said they’re more scared of us than we are of them,” Jake reminded her. “Besides, they’re even more rattled after the black-cloud incident. They’ll probably just cower and hide from us. I doubt we’ll even see them.”

“Vampire Monocle!” Archie
shouted, then dashed back inside.

Of course, they were used to such oddness from him.

“Anyway, don’t worry,” Jake said. “If the greenies try to come close, I’ll zap ’em.” He wiggled his fingers at her with a grin.

There was a time when Dani
had objected to him using his strange, inborn ability to move solid objects with his mind. She had feared with a superstitious dread that such a talent could only signify something evil.

But after
Jake had used his telekinesis on several occasions to save their necks during past adventures, she no longer scolded him about it. He had got very good with his aim, too.

“
We’d better get our coats,” Isabelle said. “It’s chilly out here. Oh—and we’d better ask permission.”

“Um
, I don’t think Miss Helena and Guardian Stone want to be interrupted right now, if you know what I mean,” Dani said, and started giggling again. “I’m not
sure
if they were kissing, but…”

Jake feigned gagging at this information
, and Isabelle blushed a bit, but they all agreed to leave the pair alone.

As Isabelle had pointed out,
it wasn’t that late yet. It was merely the time of year that made it so dark out.

T
he older two ran to get their coats, but Dani stayed behind for a moment to pat Teddy on the head. “Good job, boy. You did great!”

“
Arf!” Teddy answered, tail wagging.

She
grinned and tossed him a wee biscuit, then ran to get her coat.

A few minutes later, t
he rapid clomping of footsteps filled the old medieval hallway once again as Jake and the others stampeded toward the door.

Jake was
especially thrilled that Isabelle was letting him and Archie come along. For boys, it was a very rare treat. Unicorns didn’t generally like male humans. At all.

As they crowded around
the door, Jake grasped the handle to lead the way, as usual, but when he tried to push it open, it was stuck. “What the…?”

“What’s wrong?” Archie asked.

“The door’s jammed. It’s like something’s blocking it from the outside.”

“But we were just out there.”

“Oh, that would be the climbing roses, children!” Snowdrop suddenly reappeared, wiping her hairy little hands on her apron as she hurried over to help them.

“The roses?” Dani echoed as the
kids stepped aside to let her go to the door.

“
The rose vines round the house. Enchanted flowers,” she explained. “Every night at precisely eight o’clock, they wrap around the cottage to keep us snug and safe, thorns at the ready, so no intruder can possibly get in.”

“
Can we get out?” Jake asked.

“There’s a password, but you mustn’
t share it with outsiders.” When they agreed to keep it a secret, Snowdrop revealed it. “All you have to do is say, ‘Roses, retreat!’ Then they’ll pull back. You have thirty seconds to get through the door before they close again. Be careful of the thorns.”

“
Mrs. Fingle,” Isabelle spoke up, “if Miss Helena asks where we are, would you please tell her we went out for a walk?”

“I hope she won’t mind?” Snowdrop asked with a frown.

“We won’t leave the property. We’ll be back within the hour.”

“
Besides, we
are
on holiday,” Jake pointed out.

“Very well.” Snowdrop knocked twice on the front door to alert the enchanted flowers
that someone wanted out. “Roses, retreat!”

As soon as she spoke the password
, they heard a rustling sound outside and a bit of scraping as the retreating thorns scratched across the door.

“Look!” Dani pointed a
t the window.

The thick
, tangled vines with gnarled, woody branches were slithering back away from the doors and windows.

“Th
irty seconds, don’t dally!” Snowdrop called after them as they raced through the doorway. “Just say it again when you need to come back in!”

“Thank you!”

“Oh, and will you children want a bedtime snack when you return?” Snowdrop asked hopefully as the flowers started sliding back into place. “Something sweet, perhaps?”

“
Mrs. Fingle,” Jake declared, “I like the way you think. Yes, please!”

Then the door slammed shut in
her smiling face.