The Temporal Stone (The Morgan Sisters) (16 page)

Hopping on, he pulled a strange looking cord until it came alive beneath his bottom.

'Ooh,' he exclaimed as the machine started to move across the lawn at an angle. 'Oh dear dear,' Jimble muttered as he struggled to tame the beast.

A few moments passed before the group walked out of the house with Geoffrey who looked suitably upset at the state of his lawn.

'Jimble!' shouted Declan.

But Jimble couldn't hear him over the sound of the engine, so Declan placed the journals he was carrying on the floor and ran down the garden after him.

The group tried hard not to laugh as the funny little creature panicked and headed into a beautifully manicured hedge.

Declan reached him moments before he disappeared within it, turning off the engine and scolding the pixie troll like a naughty child.

'What were you thinking? You could have got yourself hurt or you could have hurt somebody else, like the poor gardener you've pushed on to the grass.'

Jimble's bottom lip quivered and he mumbled, 'I'm sorry, Jimble is sorry sorry, Declan. I was getting bored bored, out on my own own,' he said, lowering his head as he followed the Mentor back to the others.

'Sorry about that, Geoffrey,' Declan said as he bent down to pick up the journals.

'Quite alright, dear boy. We can sort it out. But what, may I ask, is that?' he said, pointing to Jimble.

Declan smirked, 'This is Jimble, he's a pixie troll. And probably much to your surprise, he's actually been helping us solve this thing.'

'Well, in that case, it's good to meet you, Jimble,' he said with a nod of his head.

Jimble blushed and held out his hand. Geoffrey bent down and shook it , 'Good to meet you too, to meet you too too.'

'Right, we'd better be off. Once this is all over, we'll send someone down to help clear the basement for you. That stuff should be at Praxos, not out here,' Declan said as he shook Geoffrey's hand. 'Thanks for all your help.'

'Thank you, Declan. I do believe it is time to get it all out of here. I wouldn't want unwelcome eyes going through it all, after I'm gone,' he said with his eyes glazing over. Clearing his throat, he turned back to Declan, 'It's been a pleasure. I do hope you'll forgive me for holding you at gunpoint,' Geoffrey replied with an embarrassed grin.

Chuckling, Declan nodded, 'You're wise to do that. Keep that shotgun to hand, Geoffrey. There are still some evil people and creatures about. Especially now, with the current state of affairs. Goodbye.'

CHAPTER 21

Arriving back in London feeling weary and exhausted, everyone was sent to bed for a few hours to get some much needed rest.

Lana and Emma certainly didn't need any encouraging. The moment they walked into their dorm room, they both fell into bed and were out cold in a matter of minutes. The same could be said for Elliott and Sammy. For Daisy though, it was another matter.

All she could think about was Grycan, the terrifying werewolf whose clutches she'd barely escaped some months earlier. Curled up under the covers, the moment she tried to close her eyes, his face would stare at her from the depths of her imagination. She gulped and turned over, tossing and turning for what seemed like hours. 

When her door was pushed open, she gasped and sat up, terror in her eyes.

'It's alright, Daisy. It's just me, it's your dad,' said Beau Madigan as he walked in and sat down on her bed. 'What is it? What's wrong? Declan told me you can't sleep.'

He placed a hand on her head and stroked her mass of curly hair.

With her chin leaning on her bent knees, Daisy looked up at him with a sad smile, 'It's nothing, Dad, I'm fine.'

'No, clearly you're not. You can tell me, what's worrying you?'

Sighing heavily, she leant back on to the bed and whispered, 'We've got to find the wolves.'

'Oh sweetheart, you don't have to go with them. In fact, Declan is already preparing to go with a few of the other Mentors. I don't think he's taking any of the students with him. You've got nothing to worry about.'

'But we do, we all do. Don't you see? I know what the wolves are like. They're evil, Dad, pure evil.'

'Hey, you only saw a couple, didn't you? And they belonged to the Skulls. They're not all like that. Stop worrying. Everything is going to be fine. Now try and get some sleep. Shhhh,' he whispered, pulling the cover up to her neck. He bent down and placed a gentle kiss on his daughter's forehead before he stood up and turned to go.

'Thanks, Dad,' she said.

Smiling, he closed the door behind him.

oOo

'So, what's the plan?' Beau asked as he rushed back to Eleanor's office where Wilbur, Declan and a few of the other Watchers, who had finally found their way back to London with their students, were waiting for him.

'We're going to speak to our contacts on the street,' Declan replied as he put his jacket on. 'See if we can organise a meet with the head of the wolves in London. We shouldn't be long. Wish us luck,' he said as he rushed out, followed by two colleagues.

'Good luck,' Eleanor yelled with a grin as peered through the doorway and watched him run down one of the tunnels that led off of the main hallway at Praxos HQ.

'How's Jimble doing?' asked Eleanor.

'He's okay. He's just having a rest. We ran a few tests and discovered that whatever those Neutrals did to him seems to have put a stop to his allergy to the house dust,' Wilbur replied as they all headed towards the main living room.

Eleanor nodded, 'Excellent. I must remember to thank the head of the Neutrals when this is all over. For now, I think we should just wait for Declan to get back. Wilbur, would you mind telling the kitchen staff to organise some food for when the students wake up. I would imagine they'll be quite literally starving.

'It's already been organised,' he smiled.

'What would I do without you?'

Three hours later, the students were beginning to emerge from their rooms, and Eleanor was quite right. They were all ready to eat.

As Lana and Emma walked into the dining room, Emma's eyes widened in excitement as she saw someone she'd been thinking about all day.

'Diarmuid!' she squealed, running to him. Catching her, he pulled her up into a deep bear hug. Her feet barely touched the ground.

'I've been so worried about you,' he said as he pulled her out of the room to the adjacent white room that was filled with oversized beanbags.

'I know, me too,' she replied as he kissed her passionately.

Breaking for air, the two looked into each other's eyes and grinned.

'I'm so glad you're back. I've missed you,' she sighed. Diarmuid squeezed her tightly and kissed her again. When her stomach rumbled loudly, they broke apart laughing.

'I guess we really should go get some food,' he said as he grabbed hold of her hand and they walked back through the door, breathing in the delicious smells of a full English breakfast.

Not wanting to let each other go, they had difficulty placing the food on their plates. Reluctantly they released each other’s
hands with a chuckle and proceeded to pile their plates high. Diarmuid chose eggs, bacon, sausages and toast; Emma opted for toast and scrambled eggs.

Once they were ready to sit down, they looked around the tables of students tucking into their food, all talking loudly.

Lana waved energetically from a round table at the back of the room, where she sat with some friends.

'Hey guys,' Emma said with a grin, 'It's really good to see you.'

'You too, Em,' said Ava while the others grinned with their mouths full.

'I see you've met Sammy,' Emma said as she patted her new found friend on the back.

'Have you, Diarmuid?'

He shook his head as they sat down.

'Diarmuid, this is Sammy. Sammy, this is Diarmuid.'

Sammy raised her eyebrows and smiled at him, 'Nice to meet you. I've heard loads about you,' she giggled. Emma gave her a nudge with her elbow and laughed.

'I wish Liam, Nisha and Moira were here,' Lana sighed.

'I know,' Ava replied. 'But at least they're all safe now that everybody was brought back in the helicopter.'

'They're in good hands. Don't worry, Ava, I'm sure Liam will be back with us in no time,' Emma said, squeezing her fellow Watcher's hand across the table.

Ava smiled sadly and took a swig of tea.

'Oh, I heard they've got a real live pixie troll here,' she squeaked, changing the subject.

Emma, Lana and Sammy shared a glance and grinned.

'Yeah, they do,' said Lana.

'I heard he's gross,' Penny said.

'I heard he's really nasty,' Diarmuid added.

The three girls burst out laughing, much to the confusion of everyone else.

'What?' asked Ava, who placed both her elbows on the table and stared at them, waiting for an answer.

'It's just that, you're so totally wrong. He's really not gross... well, maybe a little bit,' Lana laughed as her sister gave her a glare.

'And he's the complete opposite of nasty,' Emma added. 'His name is Jimble and he's actually quite adorable.'

'He's adorable? How can he be adorable? He's a... He's... a... pixie troll - they're the ones that have caused all this mayhem,' said Imran in shock.

'That's where you're wrong, actually,' Elliott interrupted. 'Eleanor will probably brief everybody later on, but just to give you the gist of it, the pixie trolls were put under some kind of spell. They're really quite nice - honestly. They'll probably let you meet Jimble, if you want to,' he added.

'Really? Awesome,' Diarmuid said in between mouthfuls of food.

'Cool,' said Imran.

'So what's going on at the moment?' asked Ava.

'They're trying to speak to the wolves,' whispered Daisy who had quietly appeared behind them.

'Hey Daisy,' said the others as Rupert stood up and dragged another chair over to the table.

Daisy grinned at him and sat down.

'Thanks.'

'What do you mean, they're speaking to the wolves?' asked Imran.

'Exactly that. To find out what happened to the Temporal Stone, they need to speak to the wolves.'

'What's the Temporal Stone?' asked Ava, confused.

'Oh gosh, you really haven't been filled in on anything, have you?'

'I guess you're the ones that have been out having all the fun,' Diarmuid said. 'We've been stuck in the Royal Crescent all the time you've been out gallivanting!'

Emma leant in to him, 'But you're here now and that's all that matters.'

Diarmuid pulled her into a long embrace and finished it off with a kiss.

'Hey, get a room, you guys,' Rupert said, shaking his head from across the table. 'Lana, why don't you fill us in on everything else that's been going on...'

CHAPTER 22

Declan reappeared some time later with a grin on his face. Eleanor, who was itching for his return, was doing some yoga moves in her office while she waited. Hearing his voice, she jumped up from doing the Downward Dog and rushed out.

'Declan!' she yelled, 'How did it go?'

'Great,' he replied, 'I managed to track down an old mate who used to be buddies with the cousin of a guy whose girlfriend's best friend was a werewolf and... what?' he asked as he looked at her amused face.

Eleanor shook her head and laughed, 'Carry on.'

'Well, he knows the leader of the wolves in the London area and he's set up a meet. But we can't be late, we've got to head out immediately.'

Eleanor nodded and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair just as Lana and Emma appeared at her door.

'We're coming too,' they said in unison.

'No, that's not the best idea, girls.'

'We'd really like to come along, Eleanor. Please,' Lana said, fluttering her eyelashes.

Eleanor looked across at Declan, who shrugged his shoulders, 'It can't do any harm,' he said.

'Okay then, come on. We're leaving now.'

Outside the main house, Declan pulled the door shut and the four of them headed towards the British Museum, Declan having agreed to meet in a small green area a few doors down from the popular spot.

As they approached, Declan saw them first. Eight burly men surrounded the rather tall leader who stood in the centre with his head held high. Their fists were scrunched up and their eyes squinted as the Watchers slowed in front of them. All of them seemed to be on guard, standing with their legs wide apart and arms crossed, like some kind of freaky armed forces SWAT team.

'Declan?' asked one of them, before brushing a massive hand through his streaky grey and white hair.

Declan nodded curtly and stopped, waiting.

'And the other?'

'This is Eleanor Hayden-Jones, she's the.....'

'The Guardian of the Watchers,' interrupted the tall, attractive man who stood in the centre. His serious, chiselled face lit up as he pushed his eight body guards to one side. 'It's alright, fellas.'