The Temporal Stone (The Morgan Sisters) (10 page)

'Oh,' Lana said, 'So you don't know what happened to it?'

He shook his head. 'We never found out out but we always worried worried that one day it would return to haunt haunt us and now it has has. Someone has got their hands hands on the Temporal Stone stone and if we don't get it back... woooo, well, I don't know what what will happen to us all all.'

'We need to track down that stone,' Declan said seriously.

Jimble nodded enthusiastically, 'We do do. We certainly do. Sure do. We do do.'

'Here's what we're going to do, we're gonna follow the original plan and get Moira to the hospital in Arundel. Then we're gonna get to London as fast as we can. With Jimble's help, we're going to find that artefact and we're going to put a stop to whoever is playing this game.'

Lana and Emma had never heard Declan sound so serious.

CHAPTER 15

Eleanor and the girls had spent two hours flying above the town trying to locate Bryn, but to no avail. The American mentor was nowhere to be seen. Knowing Bryn, Eleanor was sure that he wouldn't be in hiding anywhere. Bryn was a fighter, which meant there was a small chance that he might have been caught out by the invisible pixie trolls.

Just as they were about to give up all hope of finding him, Daisy squealed from the back of the helicopter, 'Over there!'

Eleanor turned to see where she was pointing, holding her breath as she followed Daisy's finger to see a man lying on the ground amidst the crowds of people stopped in time.

'Oh no,' she muttered as the helicopter came in to land as close to him as possible. 'It's Bryn,' she sighed.

'Wait, Eleanor. He just moved - he's not frozen,' said Sara.

'But he is injured. We're going to have to get him on board. Daisy, is there much dust left?' Eleanor asked.

Daisy shook her head, 'Only a little bit. Enough for just one person.'

'In which case, I'm afraid you're going to have to go and get him. You're the quickest and strongest person here.'

Eleanor looked at the young girl who shuddered nervously before nodding.

'I can do it,' she said as she took out the last of the dust and covered herself with it.

'On three, Daisy. One, two, three, go!' yelled Eleanor as Daisy dashed out of the helicopter, the swift movement of the rotor blades blowing away some of the dust from her long hair.

She ran with such confidence and speed that Eleanor felt no need to worry - until Daisy reached Bryn and realised something wasn't quite right.

Something was blocking her way. As Daisy tried to walk closer, she felt something tug on her dust-covered jeans. Turning around, she took what little amount of dust she was carrying in her hands and blew it. Immediately, it became apparent why she couldn't get close to him. Bryn had been surrounded by little pixie trolls, all of them invisible. She breathed a sigh of relief that the dust on her clothes had worked.

As the rest of it scattered on to each of the trolls, Daisy didn't wait to find out what happened to them. Instead, she leant forward and grabbed Bryn, hiking him up over her shoulder and stepping slowly backwards, aware that the little creatures were everywhere.

As she tiptoed out of the circle, she turned as fast as she could and ran those last few steps until she reached Eleanor. The girls opened the side door and were waiting to pull Bryn aboard.

As Daisy lifted her feet off the ground, the helicopter immediately became airborne. She turned to watch as the trolls' bodies shook uncontrollably before their movements began to slow down dramatically. It was almost as if they were caught in slow motion.

'Bryn? Bryn? Can you hear me?' Eleanor whispered as she gently patted the man's face. 'Bryn? It's Eleanor. You're safe now. Can you hear me?'

When Bryn didn't make a sound, Eleanor turned to Amber. 'We need to get him to hospital immediately. I don't know what's wrong. Take us to Arundel. They'll know what to do there.'

Amber nodded and immediately turned the helicopter around, flying south east towards the small town in West Sussex.

oOo

Daisy had never been to Arundel before and she was surprised to see quite a majestic looking castle appearing before them.

Eleanor watched her young face and smiled. 'It's beautiful, isn't it?' she asked.

Daisy nodded, 'Mum and Dad used to take me to places like this during school holidays but we never came here. I wish we could have come here.'

'Well, you'll be pleased to hear that's where the hospital is,' she said with a chuckle as she turned her attention back to Bryn, whose breathing had become a little more shallow, and his skin had turned deathly pale.

As the helicopter landed on a large area of grass right in the middle of the stunning property, Eleanor watched as a small group of people appeared from one of the far off doorways.

She waved to them and, once they'd spotted who it was, they ran towards her.

'It's okay, it's safe here. You can get out,' a young man shouted as he approached.

'Hi Rhydian. It's Bryn - we're not quite sure what happened,' she said as Rhydian, his wife Megan and a few others helped them remove Bryn from the helicopter.

Carrying him back towards the smaller entrance from where they'd come, Eleanor and the girls followed eagerly behind.

'Eleanor, it's good to see you. Are you girls okay?' asked a familiar voice from within the darkness. As they walked indoors and their eyes adjusted to the light, Eleanor grinned when she saw Saleena. They hugged each other.

'We're fine. It's Bryn that isn't.'

The beautiful Indian woman's smile disappeared, 'What happened?'

'I'm afraid we don't know.'

'Have you heard from Declan?' she asked, frowning.

'I'm afraid not. We've lost all communications. I'm sure they'll be fine, though. He's with a good bunch of kids today. Don't worry,' she smiled as she placed a reassuring arm on her shoulder.

Bryn had been carefully placed on a stretcher as they carried him deep within the castle, far away from where any tourists might wander, to where Praxos hospital was located.

They entered a large open hall filled with beds, only a few of which were occupied. Some were covered with large white bubble-like covers, making it difficult to see who lay beneath.

Bryn was made as comfortable as possible while the hospital's number one doctor and his staff attended to him. Eleanor and the girls were encouraged to leave them to get on with their work.

They went with Saleena and Rhydian to a smaller room where there were a number of comfortable sofas. Daisy plopped down, immediately removing her shoes and curling her feet underneath herself while Eleanor began to explain everything that had been going on.

CHAPTER 16

'We're going to have to stop for fuel,' Declan said as they pulled into a petrol station. 'Jimble, are there any of your guys around here?'

Jimble shook his head without even looking.

'But you didn't even check,' Lana said.

'No need to look look. No need to to. We stay away from these places places, we do do. Scary places, smelly places, dangerous places. You're safe safe!' he said with a smile.

Declan grinned back and climbed out of the car which he had squeezed past a number of other queueing vehicles and parked alongside a small silver Smart car, where the owner was standing with a fuel pump in her hand, about to put it in the tank.

Carefully removing the pump from her, Declan placed the nozzle into the Range Rover and stood for a few minutes as the fuel poured into the car.

'Hey Jimble?' asked Emma.

'Yes, yes.'

'Why do you speak so funny?'

'Funny, funny?'

'Yeah, you keep repeating words all the time,' Emma replied.

'Yeh and it's kind of annoying,' Lana murmured under her breath, narrowly avoiding an elbow to her side from her sister.

Jimble shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 'This is is just how I speak speak with you you. I don't know know why why. Just the way it is is.'

After a few minutes and with a full tank, Declan put the fuel pump back into the woman's hand before taking his wallet out of his back pocket and removing two fifty pound notes which he put on the front seat of her car.

With a grin, he got back in and they continued on their way to Arundel.

Soon they were driving around a small roundabout, weaving in and out of the cars on the road.

'So this is Arundel,' whispered Emma as she took in the beauty of the large castle nearby.

'Yup, and that,' Declan pointed to the castle, 'is where we're headed.'

'Cool,' said Lana.

'Diarmuid would love this. I hope he's okay,' Emma said.

'Of course he is. He's probably doing architectural drawings of the Royal Crescent as we speak,' smiled Lana as she leant over and squeezed her sister's hand.

'Who's Diarmuid?' asked Sammy.

Lana smirked, 'Emma's one and only.'

Emma blushed.

'You have a boyfriend? That's nice.'

'Yep, they've been together for a few months now. They're totally loved up, kinda gross really,' Lana joked.

'It is so not gross,' Emma said, her cheeks remaining a permanent shade of red.

'I think it's sweet. I had a boyfriend but we broke up a few months ago.'

'Oh, sorry to hear that,' Emma replied.

'Don't be, he was a jerk.'

'Oh.'

Lana laughed, 'We all know our fair share of jerks. You're better off without him, Sammy. You can hang out with me and we can be young, free and single together.'

Sammy chuckled, 'Cool.'

'Although Lana LOVES boys, Sammy, she's like the biggest flirt ever,' Emma added.

'So what's wrong with flirting?'

Elliot glanced across at Declan and raised his eyebrows.

'Okay, we're here,' Declan said, grinning and putting an end to their teenage talk. 'Is that the chopper the girls used this morning?' he mumbled to himself. 'Jimble, can you check our surroundings again, mate?'

Jimble hopped up and looked out the window. 'No pixie trolls trolls. None. None here here.'

'Okay people, let's get out of here,' Declan said as they all began to open the doors and stretch their legs.

'Declan?' came a voice from indoors.

'Sal?' he answered back as the gorgeous woman literally ran into his arms and covered him in hugs and kisses.

'Sal!' he said over and over, 'I'm so glad you're okay.'

'Declan, Emma, Lana, Elliott... oh poor Moira what happened? Oh and I see we have a newcomer. Hello, I'm Eleanor,' she said as she strolled towards them and shook Sammy's hand. 'It's always a pleasure to meet a new Watcher. What's your name?'

Sammy reddened a little before answering, 'I'm Sammy... Sammy Prentiss. Nice to meet you.'

'How are you holding up? Today is your birthday, isn't it?'

'H-how did you know?'

Eleanor tapped the side of her head, 'I have a list and your name was on it. I'm sorry you weren't better prepared for all this but under these circumstances, it was a little difficult for us to get to you in time. I hope you'll forgive us for that. Now, what's been going on? What happened to Moira and wh...oh, is that a pixie troll in the car?'

'It's okay, Eleanor, he's been helping us,' Emma said as she opened the boot of the car to let Jimble out. 'Just don't touch him without him knowing that you're going to touch him, otherwise, well, you can probably guess what happens. Jimble, this is Eleanor, she's our, erm, well, she's our leader.'

Eleanor laughed as she approached the little fellow with her hand outstretched.

'Hello Jimble. I'm actually the Guardian of the Watchers, in England anyway. How do you do?'

Jimble wobbled over and shook her hand, 'Very well, very well, thank you you. We know of you, we do do. We've heard stories about you you, we have. Good to meet you, good to meet you you.'

oOo

As the group turned to make their way back towards the hospital, Jimble stopped at the doorway. The others all walked in, leaving him behind. When Emma suddenly realised he wasn't behind her, she turned back to face him, 'Jimble?' she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders and held out his hands sadly.

'Why aren't you coming in?'

He shook his head as the others turned back to see why he wasn't following them.

Eleanor clapped her hand on her forehead, 'Of course, the house dust. Oh dear, I'm sorry Jimble. I forgot about that.'

'House dust?' Lana asked.

'Yes, we've actually been using it against them. They have some kind of aversion to it. It slows them down and renders them pretty useless for a while. Wait though, I have an idea.'

While Eleanor quickly turned around and rushed inside, Emma bent down, squinting, 'House dust, huh? But you went into the castle earlier?'