Silver Hill (9 page)

‘He’s not here,’ announced Camelin as Jack landed.

‘Are you eating something?’ asked Jack.

‘You bet, you’ve got to try them,’ replied Camelin as he bent over and delicately pulled some berries from a small bush. ‘Don’t tell me you didn’t know it was winberry season? Why do you think they call it Winberry Hill?’

Jack knew he shouldn’t get distracted but he could smell the juice from the winberries. The temptation was too great and he too began plucking the large black berries from the bushes.

‘Have you two nearly finished?’ asked Timmery.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Jack, ‘I don’t know what got into me.’

‘About thirty winberries!’ laughed Camelin.

Timmery flew round their heads.

‘Where do you think we should start looking?’

‘Why don’t we call him,’ suggested Jack.

‘I thought we’d agreed not to,’ grumbled Camelin. ‘Can’t you make your mind up?’

‘What if we use the call of the raven owl? Charkle’s got amazing hearing. He’ll know it’s us straight away. It’ll be easier for him to come and find us, especially now we’re on top of a hill.’

‘Ooh, you’re so clever Jack,’ called Timmery as he fluttered about.

A strange sound made Camelin’s head jerk up, ‘What was that?’

‘It’s me,’ squeaked Timmery, ‘I’m doing the call of the raven owl.’

‘Oh no, you’re not. That’s nothing like it.’

Camelin threw his head back and hooted as loudly as he could. Jack joined in and Timmery too. They stopped, listened and peered into the darkness.

‘Let’s try again,’ suggested Jack.

‘Without him this time,’ grumbled Camelin as he nodded towards Timmery. ‘He’s putting me off.’

Timmery looked a bit hurt but nodded.

‘Ready?’ asked Jack.

‘Ready.’

They both hooted long and loud. This time the sound bounced back from the other hill. When Jack’s breath ran out he stopped the call, dropped his head and scanned the sky.

‘Look!’ he croaked excitedly. ‘Look, over near the top of the other hill, there’s something small flying towards us.’

Camelin jigged around Jack.

‘It’s him isn’t it? We’ve found him.’

‘I think he’s found us,’ replied Jack. ‘I’m sure it’s Charkle, I do hope he’s not too upset.’

They watched as the tiny shape flew towards them. When it was overhead it did a triple loop-the-loop.

‘It is Charkle!’ cried Timmery.

Jack was amazed. The little dragonette seemed to be in high spirits.

‘Where’ve you been?’ asked Timmery.

‘We’ve been really worried,’ said Jack.

Charkle began speaking so quickly it was hard to understand what he was saying.

‘Come and see, come and see,’ he chirruped as he flew excitedly above their heads. ‘I’ve found it, Howling Hill, it’s real. I heard the dragon howling. Oh do come and see.’

‘Where?’ Timmery asked excitedly.

‘Over on the other hill. You’ve got to come, Norris and Snook might be on the other side of the door.’

‘A door?’ asked Jack.

‘Yes, a tiny door, it doesn’t open but you can look through the keyhole.’

‘And what about the dragon?’ asked Timmery.

‘It’s a long way off but you can hear it roar and howl.’

Jack looked worried. They’d only come out to find Charkle. He wasn’t prepared for dragon hunting. He’d read Nora’s book so he knew that dragonettes weren’t capable of howling or roaring loudly. If there really was a dragon on the other side of the door it wasn’t going to be Norris or Snook, it was going to be something considerably larger.

‘We can’t go through the door tonight. We need to get back to Glasruhen,’ Jack told them.

He could see the look of disappointment on Charkle’s face, even in the dark.

‘But I thought you’d be pleased, I might have found some of my family and you won’t even come and have a look.’

Jack felt bad. Charkle looked so disappointed.

‘There’s nothing we can do tonight but as long as we don’t take too long we can go and have a look through the keyhole. After all, it’s on our way home. Once we’ve had a look we’ll have to go back. Grandad will be really worried if he finds I’m not there and I need to go to school in the morning.’

Charkle flew over and landed on Jack’s shoulder. His long pointed tail swayed from side to side. He could tell the little dragonette was very excited.

‘Oh! Jack Brenin, I know there’s a dragon somewhere behind the door I can smell dragon’s breath from here.’

Jack didn’t want to disappoint Charkle again but he suspected it was Nora’s potion he could smell.

‘Are we going or not?’ grumbled Camelin.

‘We are,’ piped Charkle. ‘Follow me.’

Charkle took off and Timmery followed. Camelin glowered and hunched his wings. ‘Who said he could go first?’ he mumbled.

‘Come on,’ Jack coaxed, ‘the sooner we get over to Silver Hill, the sooner we can get back. Let’s go and see what Charkle’s so excited about.’

THROUGH THE KEYHOLE

Soon, Silver Hill loomed below them. Its twin peaks looked out of place in the landscape and although Jack knew its slopes were covered in trees, in the dark they looked bare and barren. He could just see the outlines of what must once have been ancient forts on both hilltops. Charkle flittered downwards towards the slope of the smaller hillside and disappeared into a crevice.

‘It’s down here on this ledge,’ he called. ‘You’ll have to be careful it’s not very wide.’

Camelin landed first and skipped daintily to where Charkle hovered.

‘Come and look Jack,’ said Charkle. ‘I know there’s a dragon somewhere behind the door.’

‘I can’t see a door,’ replied Jack as he scanned the rock face.

‘Camelin’s stood in front of it,’ explained Charkle. ‘It’s only small.’

As Camelin stepped to one side Jack could make out the faint outline of a doorway.

‘Is it a Spriggan door?’ he asked.

‘Naw, Spriggans don’t have much use for doors,’ replied Camelin.

‘It’s about the right size for a dragonette,’ piped Timmery excitedly. ‘Perhaps you should knock and see if anyone answers.’

‘I’ve tried that, and I’ve shouted through the keyhole,’ said Charkle. ‘That’s when I heard the roaring and growling.’

‘This door’s too small for a big dragon,’ said Jack.

‘Move over,’ grumbled Camelin as he bent over and put his eye to the keyhole. ‘Let me see.’

‘Oooh listen!’ cried Charkle excitedly. ‘There it is again.’

Jack listened intently but he couldn’t hear anything. Then a distinct low rumbling began in the distance. As the sound grew, the ledge on which they stood began to vibrate.

‘What can you see?’ Jack asked Camelin.

‘It’s a monster with great big eyes coming towards the door and…’

Camelin’s words were lost as a thunderous noise filled the crevice. It seemed to bounce off the rocks and echo around inside Jack’s head.

‘Oh my poor ears,’ said Charkle from underneath his wings. ‘Now do you believe me? That’s a dragon if ever I heard one. It might know where my family went. We need to get the door open. We need to and go and look for it.’

‘… it was really big and long and moved really quickly,’ gulped Camelin. ‘I thought it was going to come straight through the door.’

Jack could see Camelin was shaken. He was too. He wasn’t in any hurry to open the door and find out what was on the other side. He needed to ask his Book of Shadows more questions before they made any rash decisions. Nora had made them promise they wouldn’t have any more unplanned adventures. Once they stepped through the door into the unknown he’d have a problem explaining why he’d gone, but if they planned it carefully, he wouldn’t have broken his promise. After all, she’d said he was allowed to help Charkle. They could easily find the door again when they were better prepared.

Jack looked at the horizon. It was still dark. With any luck if they set off now they’d be home before dawn. He tried to work out how much sleep he’d be able to have before it was time to get up for school. He knew it wasn’t going to be enough. He didn’t know how he was going to convince Charkle to come back with them. Jack decided a firm command would be best.

‘Time to go. We’ll make plans tomorrow and come back when we can.’

Much to Jack’s surprise Camelin took off without any argument.

‘Follow me everyone,’ he croaked.

‘Do you both want to climb on?’ Jack asked Charkle and Timmery.

‘No need,’ replied Charkle, ‘we’ve been getting around just fine. Watch!’

Timmery grabbed the pointed end of Charkle’s tail and wrapped himself around it.

‘Dragonettes can fly for hours without getting tired,’ he explained.

‘Isn’t it hard work with Timmery on your tail?’

‘Not at all, dragonette’s tails are really strong and besides, Timmery doesn’t weigh much at all.’

Without another word Charkle sped off after Camelin. Jack was amazed by how fast the little dragon could fly, even with Timmery suspended from the end of his tail.

Jack found the flight back difficult. He could see Camelin trying hard to keep up with Charkle but in the end even he had to drop back. Jack smiled as Charkle did a triple loop-the-loop. He wondered if the little dragonette knew Camelin wasn’t able to keep up and was showing off on purpose. Charkle circled above Jack’s head before flying alongside.

‘We’ll get back if you don’t mind, it’s nearly dawn. See you tomorrow.’

‘See you tomorrow,’ Jack called as Charkle sped away.

Jack peered at the sky. It was dark now, but he knew Charkle was right, it would soon be light. He wished he could fly faster and be home sooner. All he wanted to do was climb into bed and sleep.

Thankfully it wasn’t long before the familiar sight of Glasruhen Hill appeared. As they flew over the summit the sky began to lighten. Jack needed to be back in bed before the sun came over the horizon. He brought his wings down powerfully, summoned every ounce of energy he had left and caught up with Camelin.

‘As soon as we get back I have to go to bed. I’ll come round tomorrow after school.’

‘Fine, but what about my breakfast?’

‘I’m sure you’ll find something.’

Jack could hear Camelin grumbling as he followed him through his open bedroom window.

The blinding flash as they transformed woke Orin.

‘I’m sorry I’ve got to go to bed, I’ll tell you everything later,’ Jack told her as he yawned deeply. He could hardly keep his eyes open as he got back into his pyjamas. He was vaguely aware of Camelin whispering to Orin as he crawled into bed. Exhaustion overtook him as his head hit the pillow.