The Harpy's Song Read online

  ‘Well, no, I don’t think so. And anyway, if we do they don’t sound like that!’ Trevor said defensively. ‘Look,’ he continued, ‘it’s been lovely to meet you but I really need to get out of this forest now. Do you think you could help me?’

  ‘Of course I can. Follow me!’

  Trevor followed Tatreana as she fluttered on ahead, pausing from time to time to allow him to catch up.

  ‘Are you a fairy?’ Trevor asked, after having walked for some time in silence.

  ‘Of course,’ Tatreana replied. Then, realizing that Trevor may not have seen a fairy before either, she continued, ‘I’m a Mai-Fairy.’

  The Mai-Fairy led Trevor to the edge of the woods, where he thanked her for her help and she bid him farewell.

  A short distance away along the tree line, Trevor could see the cottage. Burtlùs was standing outside with his hands on his hips, looking cross. Trevor trudged back guiltily.

  ‘Where have you been?’ Burtlùs said, the relief in his eyes belying his angry voice. ‘Freya was worried about you.’

  ‘I was in the forest.’ Trevor hung his head. ‘And I saw a Mai-Fairy.’ His eyes lit up.

  ‘A Mai-Fairy?’ Burtlùs’ eyes widened with excitement but then he coughed, remembering himself. ‘Let’s get back inside.’

  In the cottage, Mèlli was sitting at the table and Freya was busy preparing breakfast. ‘You’ll never guess where Trevor was,’ Burtlùs announced with raised eyebrows. ‘The forest.’

  Mèlli rolled his eyes and Freya inhaled sharply. ‘Didn’t Burtlùs tell you not to go in there?’ Freya asked in a mothering tone.

  ‘Yes, I told him a hundred times.’ Burtlùs protested. ‘But he did see a Mai-Fairy.’

  ‘Ooh! A Mai-Fairy!’ Freya gasped. ‘It’s good luck to see the first Mai-Fairy. Spring’s early this year.’

  Mèlli tutted and turned his attention impatiently to his empty plate. Freya told Burtlùs and Trevor to wash their hands and sit at the table for breakfast.

  ‘Burtlùs, what’s a lullock?’ Trevor asked once they were seated.

  ‘A lullock? It’s a creature with a long, bushy tail, about this big.’ His hands indicated something about the size of a rat.

  ‘Oh, okay, never mind,’ Trevor muttered, hurriedly tucking into his breakfast.

  8

  Two Peas In A Pod

  AFTER BREAKFAST, FREYA disappeared into the bedroom and re-emerged holding a bundle of clothes each for her two guests. Whilst Burtlùs and Trevor were working on the cart, Freya had also been busy sewing garments to make Trevor and Mèlli blend in better in rus. The clothes that Trevor had arrived in, his jeans and branded tee shirt, would have stood out and gained unwanted attention, while Mèlli’s clothes were just beyond repair. Freya had sewn two pairs of pants and two tunics from what appeared to be coarse, brown sackcloth. She handed the clothes to their new owners and tried to usher them both into the bedroom to change.

  ‘I’m not getting changed in there with him!’ Mèlli said, withdrawing defensively with his arms crossed.

  ‘Okay, okay. You take the bedroom and I’ll go behind the counter in the kitchen,’ Trevor offered.

  Mèlli disappeared into the bedroom without another word. Burtlùs and Freya turned to each other and shrugged while Trevor muttered to himself, ‘It’s no different from getting changed for soccer anyway.’

  Trevor struggled valiantly with his new pants but found that he was unable to pull them up any higher than his thighs. He gave up and put his jeans back on.

  ‘Uh, Freya, I think there’s something wrong,’ he said in a timid voice.

  Freya looked towards him, concerned. ‘What is it, my dear?’

  At that moment, the bedroom door opened and Mèlli appeared, looking swamped by a shirt whose sleeves came out way beyond his fingertips and pants that he held up by clutching handfuls of fabric. Realizing what had happened, the four looked at each other and laughed.

  With the clothing situation resolved and each boy in the correct outfit, Freya began preparing food for the journey while Trevor helped Burtlùs load the cart with dungfuel as much as possible, only leaving access to the hidden compartment. To Trevor’s distaste, Mèlli sat near to the cart, watching, avoiding the hard work and continually checking the silver box and tatty book which he tucked into the pouch over his clothes.

  Freya emerged from the cottage and placed the lunch parcel onto the driver’s seat. She said something to Burtlùs before heading off around the other side of the cottage.

  ‘Trevor, come and stand here. Freya has something you might want to see,’ Burtlùs said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

  From around the side of the cottage, Freya appeared, pulling on a sturdy rope. The rope was attached to a harness around the neck of a large elephant-like creature that plodded along behind her. Its bovine head, with its large friendly eyes and long lips, hung down from huge muscular shoulders. Its back was long and sloped upwards towards the rear so that its four back legs were longer and broader than its front pair.

  ‘Whoa! What is that?’ Trevor gasped, his eyes wide with amazement. He took a step backward as the creature approached him, and stumbled over. The creature towered above him and its long blue-black tongue proceeded to give him a slobbering lick.

  ‘She likes you,’ said Freya kindly. She pulled on the harness and, with the help of Burtlùs, secured the animal in position at the front of the cart.

  ‘It’s got six legs!’ Trevor said, pulling himself up from the ground. ‘It’s got six legs!’

  ‘D’uh! It’s a boodaloofe,’ Mèlli snorted.

  ‘This is Iba,’ Freya said, ‘and she’s going to be taking us to rus.’

  ‘Okay boys, hop in!’ Burtlùs jumped up onto the back of the cart and helped Mèlli into the hidden compartment. He reached a hand down to Trevor, who was still standing in a daze.

  ‘It’s got six legs,’ he said quietly, as Burtlùs pulled him up and tucked him in beside Mèlli, closing the lid over them and concealing it beneath another layer of dungfuel blocks.

  ‘Right, we’re ready to go,’ Burtlùs announced as he climbed onto the driving seat beside Freya. The cart wobbled from side to side and bumped into motion.

  Freya had put some old blankets in with the two passengers so they could make themselves as comfortable as possible. Mèlli wrapped himself in one and turned away from Trevor. Trevor lay on his back and shifted painfully against the hard wooden slats of the cramped compartment in an effort to get comfortable. A glance towards Mèlli told him that it wasn’t worth trying to chat.

  As the journey continued, Trevor’s discomfort intensified, made all the worse by the increasing warmth of the small chamber. Restricted by his long limbs, he struggled to turn over without disturbing Mèlli and settled finally into a position face down, peering through the gaps in the planks of wood to the road beneath.

  As Trevor watched the ground below change gradually from mud into a grassy track and eventually a cobbled road, the swaying of the cart lulled him into a dream-like state. He fantasized about his meeting with Ormostrious, and how this wise old man would understand what had happened to him and would know right away how to send him back home. The image of his mother’s face filled his mind. He forced himself to hold onto this vision, not wanting to lose the comfort it gave him.

  Suddenly, a shout of frustration brought Trevor out of his daze. Mèlli was fighting to remove his blanket and, with an upwards thrust of his arm, the silver box tumbled from his pouch to land beside Trevor. Mèlli hadn’t noticed and continued trying to free himself from the blanket in the now sweltering cabin. Trevor absentmindedly picked up the box and rotated it between his fingers with curiosity.

  ‘Oi! Give that back!’ Mèlli yelled.

  Trevor looked at him in disbelief. He opened his hand, offering him the box.

  ‘I said give that back!’ Mèlli’s face was red and his brow furrowed.

  ‘No.’ Trevor felt wounded by Mèlli’s misunderstanding. He closed his
hand and turned onto his back, pulling the box further from Mèlli. ‘Why should I?’

  Mèlli’s eyes flared with rage. He grabbed Trevor by the chest and tried to wrench his arm over but wasn’t strong enough so he punched him in the face. Trevor was shocked. His lip was throbbing and his eyes were swimming with stars. In disbelief, he released the box and it was instantly and lovingly scooped up by Mèlli. Trevor watched with wonderment as the boy held the box close to his chest, his relief palpable. The rest of the journey passed in an uneasy silence.

  When they arrived in rus, the cart came to a halt. Trevor could soon hear Burtlùs shoveling dungfuel blocks from on top of the compartment and as soon as the lid was opened, Mèlli jumped out, stepping carelessly over Trevor. Trevor sat up and climbed out after him, to see that they were in a dungfuel storage shed. Mèlli stood sulking in one corner.

  Trevor helped Burtlùs to unload the dungfuel blocks from the cart and stack them neatly.

  ‘Oh dear, that looks nasty,’ Burtlùs said, indicating Trevor’s lip with a nod of his head.

  ‘Oh yeah…um…I banged it when we…um…went over a bump,’ Trevor stammered.

  Mèlli’s eyes widened and he glanced at Trevor in surprise. Burtlùs raised his eyebrows and exchanged a knowing glance with Freya.

  ‘I’m just glad we’re all here safely,’ she said. ‘I thought for a minute that guard wasn’t going to let us through.’

  ‘Oh that grumpy old guard is always the same,’ said Burtlùs with a shake of his head.

  ‘Well now, would anyone like some food?’ Freya offered. They all gladly accepted.

  9

  rus

  THE DUNGFUEL SHED was located on the outskirts of rus, just inside the city walls, and was surrounded by tall trees that sheltered the dungfuel and the boodaloofes from the sun.

  Setting off on foot to find Ormostrious, they all emerged through the trees into a suburb on the edge of the sprawling city. Here, blacksmiths, ironmongers and other craftsmen worked in sparse wooden buildings scattered through a patchwork of paddocks. Beyond this, a dense huddle of whitewashed stone buildings made up the city’s hub and, in the center of it all, towering high above the city, stood the great palace of rus. Its crenelated walls enclosed a variety of ornate buildings with conical roofs, the most elaborate of which was the central edifice, from which two helical towers reached for the sky, pearlescent in the midday sun. Trevor stopped in his tracks and his jaw dropped, awestruck. ‘Wow!’ he said in a hushed voice.

  Before heading into the city, Burtlùs issued a warning. ‘Listen, before we go any further. We need to stick together. No wandering off and most of all no trouble—we don’t want to draw any unwanted attention to ourselves.’ He looked at Mèlli through narrowed eyes.

  In the bustling heart of the city, Trevor found it very difficult to follow Burtlùs’ rule of sticking together. He couldn’t help but stop to look at things; every stall of the bazaar had things he had never seen before, and even the people were different. Most people were runians, the same height as Burtlùs and Freya, but others were taller. There were all shapes and sizes. Trevor couldn’t help but wonder if all these different species came from Ëlamár, or if they were from other planets too.

  As they walked into a crowded square, a swirling cloud of orange smoke caught Trevor’s eye. A magician was waving a long pipe beneath the smoke, which grew and thickened and turned into the form of a giant hanging in the air. Amazed, Trevor stood watching for a moment before he realized that he was supposed to be keeping up with Burtlùs and the others. He swung around quickly to follow and bumped headlong into the chest of a tall, burly man. Trevor took a step back and apologized, trying to skirt around the man, but large hands grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. The man had a patch over one eye and a mouth full of wooden teeth.

  ‘Have you seen this girl?’ he spat at Trevor, thrusting a hand up before his face. In it was a small, black sphere which seemed to be projecting a hologram above it, in the shape of a child’s head.

  ‘Uh…no,’ Trevor stuttered, eager to get away from this unsavory character.

  The man released Trevor without a word and began questioning the people behind him. By this time, Burtlùs and the others were nowhere to be seen. Trevor swung round, surveying the crowd, and caught sight of Mèlli in the distance, heading off up one of the main thoroughfares in the direction of the palace. He fought his way through the crowd to catch up with Mèlli, passing a tent where a man was ringing a bell and crying out, ‘Get your invasion pack here!’

  A tap on the back made Trevor jump. He turned around to see Mèlli standing there with his hands on his hips. ‘I told you…no wandering off…and don’t draw attention to yourself,’ Mèlli said, mimicking Burtlùs’ voice.

  Trevor laughed but then straightened his face quickly as he saw Burtlùs and Freya approach.

  ‘So that’s how I sound, is it?’ Burtlùs said, frowning.

  Mèlli turned away, embarrassed, and continued walking with Trevor towards the palace. Burtlùs and Freya looked at each other, chuckled and followed behind the boys. ‘Trevor, I told you to stay with us,’ Burtlùs reprimanded.

  Trevor protested, ‘It wasn’t my fault. This big guy came up to me looking for someone. He had a hologram of them.’

  ‘A what?’ Burtlùs asked.

  ‘He had a black ball with a picture coming out of it made of light.’

  ‘A familiar,’ Freya said.

  ‘Oh. Is it magic? I thought—’

  ‘They were looking for someone? What did they look like?’ Mèlli interrupted, alarmed.

  Just then, the sounds of shouting and a commotion up ahead put an end to the conversation. The crowd turned as one and started running back down the street towards them, pushing past each other with fear on their faces. A cloud of smoke billowed up into the air behind them accompanied by a thunderous sound of heavy feet.

  ‘What is that?’ shouted Trevor above the noise.

  ‘I don’t know. Run!’ Burtlùs yelled.

  In a panic, they all turned and ran. Burtlùs and Freya ducked behind a wall of mead barrels, but Mèlli lost his footing and tripped while still in the middle of the street. Without a second thought, Trevor grabbed Mèlli’s arm and pulled him to safety between two yurts. They watched as the terrified crowd hurtled past, followed by an escaped herd of boodaloofes.

  The destruction in its wake was total. Collapsed yurts littered the street, with their contents strewn all around them. On the other side, Burtlùs and Freya stood up tentatively from behind the mead barrels.

  ‘Whoa, that was close!’ Trevor said. ‘Wasn’t it?’

  He turned to Mèlli to find that the boy had vanished. Hurriedly, he started to look behind the yurts and just managed to catch sight of Mèlli’s tunic disappearing around a corner down a narrow side alley. Worried for the boy’s safety, he sprinted in pursuit.

  The alleyways behind the bazaar were like a maze. Trevor followed them, twisting and turning, not knowing which way to go until he emerged into a small quadrangle. He stopped, trying to catch his breath. There were statues in each corner and alleyways leading off in all four directions. He looked around in dismay, searching for the best exit to take when a voice came from behind him.

  ‘Why are you following me?’ asked Mèlli, waving his arms in exasperation.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Trevor said, still a little out of breath. ‘The boodaloofes have gone.’

  A flash of confusion crossed Mèlli’s face. ‘Oh, have they?’ he said distractedly. But Trevor saw something in his eyes that made him wonder, his mind going back to before the stampede.

  ‘Or was it that man you were worried about?’ Trevor asked.

  ‘Man? What man?’ Mèlli sounded defensive.

  ‘The one with that…what did Freya call it? That familiar.’

  Mèlli’s face paled, but before he had a chance to say anything, Trevor continued.

  ‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry about him. He was looking for a girl I think.�
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  ‘A girl?’ Mèlli looked thoughtful.

  ‘Did you think they were looking for you?’ Trevor asked. They started walking back towards the bazaar. ‘What happened on that ship anyway? Did you steal something?’ He remembered Mèlli’s attachment to the small silver box.

  But Mèlli just gave him a grin and sprinted off. ‘Race ya!’ he shouted over his shoulder. They raced all the way back to Burtlùs and Freya, laughing between gasps of breath.

  ‘You beat me,’ Trevor panted.

  ‘Bigger isn’t always better,’ said Mèlli, smiling broadly.

  ‘Where were you? I was worried sick,’ Freya said, her face filled with concern.

  ‘Just because he runs off, doesn’t mean you have to follow him,’ said Burtlùs in a harsh tone.

  Mèlli tutted but Trevor said, ‘No, no, it was me. I felt sick so I ran over there and…um…Mèlli came to see if I was alright.’

  Burtlùs put his hands on his hips and looked at Freya, frowning and shaking his head in disbelief. He turned to the boys. ‘Do you think we can make it the rest of the way without any more incidents?’

  They walked on up the debris-strewn street. In an attempt to diffuse the situation, Trevor said, ‘I wonder what happened with those boodaloofes?’ And then, ‘Do they normally do that?’

  ‘Oh, no,’ Freya reassured him. ‘They’re such gentle creatures.’

  Burtlùs added, ‘When you two were off doing whatever you were doing, some people were saying that a girl was spotted letting the boodaloofes out of their pens.’

  ‘I wondered if it was that girl the man was looking for,’ said Freya.

  Mèlli abruptly interjected, ‘I bet it was that merchant and his cronies who let them out in the first place and then blamed it on the girl.’

  ‘Why would they do that?’ Trevor asked.

  ‘Why do the looking yourself when you can have the whole city doing it for you?’ Mèlli said by way of explanation.