The Lost Treasure of Annwn (8 page)

‘M M?' he read before looking at Nora.

‘Meadow Mound,' she explained. ‘If it was FM it would be Forest Mound, fairies always put the initials of the meeting place on the back. Each mound has its own special symbol too.'

Jack showed it to Nora.

‘That's definitely from the fairy mound in the meadow.'

Jack carefully broke the seal. As the flower split in two a cloud of sparkling dust cascaded to the floor. Jack could see every colour of the rainbow in it as it fell.

‘Hmm! Fairies,' grumbled Camelin.

‘What's it say Jack?' asked Elan.

He screwed his eyes up and concentrated on the letters.

 

‘Please call tonight at dusk.'

‘Who taught you how to do that?' asked Camelin.

‘No one; if you concentrated hard you'd be able to read it too. It's upside down and back to front!'

Camelin tossed his beak in the air and flew over to the windowsill.

‘Why does everyone get excited at the mention of fairies?'

No one answered, but Jack knew Camelin was right, he felt excited at the prospect of being able to see the Fair Folk who lived in the meadow. The Dorysk coughed and bowed low again to Jack.

‘I'm invited too and I can be your guide.'

‘That would be great, thanks.'

‘Urgh! I'm glad they didn't invite me,' mumbled Camelin as he looked over at the pile of little green parcels on the table.

‘We've got guests arriving,' said Elan.

They stood and watched as a group of rats, with Motley at the front, marched across the patio. Raggs hobbled along at the rear as he tried to keep up.

‘Halt!' ordered Motley.

The rats obediently stood very still.

‘All present and correct! Permission to enter?'

‘Come in, come in,' said Nora. ‘Everything's ready.'

Orin ran over to the patio and waited patiently while Motley dismissed the Night Guard. She went and sat with them, at the far end of the table, on the upturned beakers. Nora had placed a small cushion for the Dorysk to sit on at the head of their small table.

‘Where's Timmery?' Jack whispered to Elan.

‘He's coming along with the entertainment later, it's a surprise for the Dorysk.'

When everyone was seated, Nora tapped her glass with a spoon. Jack expected her to invite them all to eat but instead she thanked the Dorysk for all his help and listed his many skills. Camelin yawned loudly and looked longingly at his bowl.

‘No one said anything about speeches,' he whispered in Jack's ear.

Motley stood up and carried on when Nora had finished and explained what an important asset the Dorysk would be to the Night Guard. When he'd finished, the Dorysk stood and bowed.

‘I can't thank you enough for your friendship and kindness. It will be my honour to join the Night Guard, now Raggs has other duties.'

‘Hold up your right paw,' ordered Motley. ‘Do you swear to do your best at all times, to protect all who live in and around Ewell House, and to obey the rules and regulations of the Night Guard?'

‘I do,' replied the Dorysk, solemnly.

A great cheer went up from everyone at the table, especially from Camelin, but Jack thought that was probably because he knew the speeches were now finished and they were going to be able to eat. Jack saw Camelin lower his beak until it was almost touching a large cheese sandwich, which was resting on the top of his pile of food. His beak remained open when Nora stood up again, nodded to Motley and began another speech.

‘Thank you to one and all. It is my pleasure to invest Theodore Sniffler, Dorysk of Glasruhen, as a member of the Night Guard.'

Nora sat down and everyone clapped. They continued clapping as four dragonettes, one smaller than the others, burst into the kitchen and began a fiery aerobatic display. The smallest dragon landed between Jack and Camelin.

‘Oh isn't this exciting, Nora's transformed me into a dragonette for the night,' Timmery explained. ‘Wait till you see the next bit, I've been watching them practise, it's brilliant.'

Camelin humphed as the three dragonettes each flew in tight circles, breathing fire as they revolved. There was more applause as they hovered in front of the Dorysk and bowed their heads.

‘Oh bravo, bravo!' he cried. ‘I am so honoured.'

‘And I'm so hungry,' grumbled Camelin.

‘Shall we eat?' said Nora.

Camelin was already halfway down his bowl by the time Jack picked up his first ham sandwich.

 

‘Oh wasn't that wonderful,' said the Dorysk as he and Jack walked down to the bottom of Nora's garden.

‘It was,' replied Jack. ‘Did you see Camelin's face when Nora told him he'd have to wait until everyone else had finished their meal before he could have a second helping?'

The Dorysk laughed and changed into a large beetle.

‘It'll be easier to keep up with you if I fly, and it won't matter if we bump into anyone on the back lane.'

‘Is there any way we can get to the meadow without having to go down the lane? There are some boys I really don't want to meet.'

‘We could go through the fields if you like.'

‘That'd be great. I didn't know you had a real name.'

‘All Dorysks do. We keep them secret; names are very powerful things you know. You can still just call me Dorysk, there's only ever one in any area. We get together every so often and swap stories and information. That's how I ended up living next door to the fairies. They've always let us use their mound for our meetings and when I heard the badgers next door had moved out, I moved in. I sort of keep an eye on the place for them when they're not around.'

Jack could see they were nearly at a stile in the hedge. The fairy mound was in the next field. He began to feel a bit nervous. What would he say? There was also the small matter of having to eat something. Nora had given him a bag to deliver with some leftovers from the party, including the rest of the mint parcels. As they neared the mound he swallowed hard.

‘What do I do? How am I going to get through the door?'

‘Oh, don't worry about that, you'll be told what to do. Wait here.'

There was a quiet popping sound as the Dorysk changed back into his usual form. He shook his prickles before scurrying down the burrow. Jack heard a knock followed by the sound of the tiny fairy door opening and closing. Jack was alone in the meadow; he looked around, just in case they'd been followed, but the fields were empty. He looked up to see if Camelin was around, but he was nowhere to be seen. He lay on the grass, took out his wand and pointed it down the tunnel. Once the tip was glowing he could see the green arched door and the large silver doorknob. Last time he'd been to the mound he had leant forward, so he decided to put his head a bit further in. The doorknob rippled, two pointed ears popped out and a tuft of hair sprang from the top. Two small eyes, a nose, and a wide mouth followed.

‘No feast tonight, so sorry. Goodbye.'

‘I'm not here for a feast, I've been invited.'

‘Name please?'

‘Jack Brenin.'

‘Ah! Would you be The Great Jack Brenin?'

‘That's what it said on my invitation.'

‘Your food will be delivered shortly. When you've eaten you can enter. Goodbye.'

Jack watched the features on the doorknob disappear. He extinguished the light from his wand, sat up and rested his back against the mound and watched the sun sinking behind Glasruhen Hill. He was beginning to wonder if anything was going to happen when the door creaked. The Dorysk came out of the tunnel carrying a large silver plate with a green leaf parcel on it. Jack gulped, he could see something fat and round had been wrapped up, but worse than that, it was wriggling.

‘For you,' announced the Dorysk. ‘Eat and enter.'

 

 

MEETINGS

The Dorysk came closer with the plate. Jack gripped his wand tightly and stared at the food. He'd been dreading this moment but if he wanted to meet the fairies he'd have to eat what they'd offered him.

‘Close your eyes and swallow,' suggested the Dorysk, ‘you'll have to eat it if you want to get through the door.'

Jack's throat was dry, he didn't have a drink, and he didn't know how he'd be able to swallow. The parcel moved again, it looked so big. Even picking it up made him shudder. Then a sudden thought struck him: he could shrink the parcel, just as he'd made Camelin's dustbin smaller to fit into his loft. Jack smiled at the Dorysk.

‘Would you put the plate on the grass please, and step back.'

Jack took his wand and pointed it at the green package, ‘Lunio,' he commanded.

A faint blue light appeared from the tip and a tiny spark flew towards the plate. The green packet was instantly surrounded by dancing light and began to shrink. When it was the size of a pea, Jack stopped. Swallowing the parcel now wouldn't be so much of a problem. He reached over, picked it up quickly, popped it in his mouth, and swallowed. He immediately felt dizzy. There was a strange fizzing sensation inside him. He dropped his wand as he clutched his stomach.

‘You won't be needing this for now,' said the Dorysk as he picked up Jack's wand. ‘I'll pop it inside my house for safe keeping.'