Wildwood (YA Paranormal Mystery) (23 page)

Gingerly, he sat up and swung his feet to the floor. The room was three times the size of Grandpa's living area. A grand piano stood at one end and expensive-looking china figurines and pots were lined up on the mantelpiece. The room was full of arty stuff, everything from tall African statues to delicate Oriental china.

He stood, squeezing his eyes closed to cope with the pounding inside his skull. When the headache subsided, he went to the large window behind the sofa. The house sat on top of a hill overlooking the surrounding countryside. To the left were the white cottages around the harbor of Porthallow; to the right loomed the hill topped with the stunted oaks of Lords Wood. This could only be Trewartha House, Professor Cardell's home. Straight ahead, the falling sun stained the sea gold. It was dusk. That meant he'd been unconscious for at least five hours.

Todd rubbed his eyes and returned his attention to the room. He tried to sense other people in the house, but his radar didn't seem to work. No doubt the professor would be around somewhere. And somebody must have helped carry Todd here. Had it been Grandpa? The sense of betrayal flooded back and he struggled to suck air into his tight chest. Why were they doing this to him?

An African statue beside the window caught Todd's attention. He'd seen something similar in Professor Cardell's book,
Lord of the Wildwood
. The figure had horns on its head and a torque of leaves and fruit circling its neck. In one hand rested a coiled snake with a sheep's head, while the other hand held a staff sprouting vines at the end. Todd leaned in for a better look. The staff was actually growing from the man's hand. It reminded him of the nightmare he'd had where creepers sprouted from his dad's hands.

This whole Wild Lord thing was really starting to freak him out. He patted the pocket of his cut-offs where he'd stowed the Todd and Marigold dolls, but it was empty. The Professor Cardell doll had disappeared from his other pocket as well. It would be just his luck if they punished him for stealing from the Offering Tree.

He needed to get away. Shaun had better be waiting for him, or he'd have no way out of the village. Todd hurried across the room and tried the door handle.
Locked
. Okay, that would have been too easy. He returned to the window and unlatched one of the large openers, peering down at the ground. The room was on the ground floor, but the garden sloped away in front of the house, meaning the jump down was about twelve feet—into a bed of hybrid tea roses.

He was trying to decide if jumping into the rosebushes was worth the scratches when the door lock clicked, and Professor Cardell entered the room. "Ah." He halted a few steps inside, rubbing his hands together. "Good. You're back in the land of the living."

Anger bubbled inside Todd. "Kidnapping's a crime!" He strode towards the open door. Let the professor try to stop him. But Cardell wasn't alone. A bulky man blocked the doorway, his face set in an expression that made it clear he wouldn't let Todd past.

Todd halted, wishing he'd spent the last five years learning martial arts instead of swimming. "Get out of the way. You can't keep me here."

Professor Cardell stroked his cravat and smiled condescendingly. "That's rather overdramatic, young man." He pointed at the sofa. "Let's sit like civilized adults and discuss the situation."

"What's to discuss? Let me go or I'll report you to the police for kidnapping."

The man's gaze shot to Cardell who gave a slight shake of his head. "Stay there, Henry."

"I mean it," Todd added. But the man held his ground, his jaw set.

"Don't you want to learn more about your father, Todd?" the Professor asked.

Todd didn't stand a chance of pushing past Hulking Henry. He tried to think through the throbbing in his head. If he played along with Cardell, maybe the other man would leave. Todd heaved a breath and returned to the settee.

"We have your best interests at heart, you know."

"Yeah right. Edna drugged me for my own good."

"Actually, yes. She knows it would have been a mistake for you to leave. She made sure you ate something before she gave you the drug. You'd have felt a lot worse if you'd taken it on an empty stomach."

"I'll have to remember to thank her next time I see her," Todd retorted, the bite of sarcasm in his voice making the professor's lips thin.

"You belong here, just as your father did."

"Dad left."

Cardell sighed. "I never gave up hoping he would come back. Your father was like a son to me. I found him, you know."

"Found him? What does that mean?"

"The Wild Lord left him as a gift for the faithful."

Todd rocked back on his seat, his headache forgotten. "That's impossible."

"There's a clearing in Lords Wood containing three ancient standing stones called Silverwell Ring. In the middle of the ring, there's a hollow that's reputed to be over two thousand years old. That's where I found your father. My wife raised him as our own child to start with, but then Pat came along a few years later. We had a change of plan and John agreed to take Richard."

Cardell was definitely crazy. Dad couldn't have been left in the wood by a Celtic god. His real mother must have abandoned him there. Todd had heard of women leaving their newborn babies in garbage cans or cardboard boxes like unwanted kittens.

"I planned for Richard to marry Pat. Unfortunately he fancied himself in love with Ruby Turpin. Pat wouldn't give up on him and eventually drove him away." Professor Cardell shook his head. "You should have been
my
grandson." He reached out and gripped Todd's hand with his cool, bony fingers. "Then we wouldn't have had this misunderstanding."

Professor Cardell, Grandpa, all the people who worshiped the Wild Lord, they were all mental. Todd shook off Cardell's hand, got to his feet, and backed away. "I'm not staying here with you. You're mental. Shaun will be looking for me. If I don't turn up, he'll know something's wrong."

"I'm afraid Mr. Donovan has already left the village. His friendship with you was inconvenient. A phone call to his father solved the problem of our inquisitive artist."

Todd's heart faltered. "You're lying. He wouldn't leave without me."

"He would if he thought you'd taken a taxi to the station to catch the train home."

Todd clenched and released his fists, panic rising in his chest. "You told him that?"

"John did." The professor's pale blue eyes were firm. He was telling the truth. Shaun had gone and left him behind.

Cardell stood and headed for the door. Just before he went out, he turned and looked back. "We tried to make this easy for you. Marigold was happy to be your young lady. You could have tended Edna's garden and mine as well. In a few years, you would have married. Your life would have been happy, if uneventful. But you rejected the poor girl. Now we'll have to do this the hard way."

"You can't keep me locked up forever. As soon as I'm free, I'll leave."

A confident smile lit Professor Cardell's face. "I assure you that's not going to happen. It took John so long to persuade you to come down here that I can't let you leave again."

A few hours later, the door opened and Professor Cardell came in. Todd had been resting, trying to get rid of his headache, but he sat up, alert for any chance to escape. Hulking Henry was at the door again.

A woman he'd seen in Porthallow brought in a cup of hot chocolate and a plate of ham sandwiches. She placed them on the table beside the sofa. Her gaze flicked nervously to Todd before she headed back out the door.

The professor indicated the food. "Not a very inspiring supper, I'm afraid. Still, I suggest you eat now, otherwise you'll have to wait until you're home with John tomorrow."

So they expected him to go back to live with Grandpa. How did Professor Cardell intend to stop him from running away?

Todd stared at the food. "Do you think I'm stupid? It's probably drugged."

Cardell pressed his palms together and touched his fingertips to his lips. "You do make life difficult, young Todd." He turned towards the door and raised his voice. "Henry, Steve, I need your help."

The man who'd stood guard earlier came in followed by one of the fisherman Todd had seen on the beach. Henry handed a sports drink bottle to Professor Cardell, who nodded and said, "You know what to do."

Todd scrambled up and vaulted over the sofa back as Henry and Steve approached. The two men dodged sideways and grabbed him when he tried to dart past. "Get off of me." Todd kicked and twisted as they manhandled him back to the sofa and pushed him down on the cushions. One man leaned on his legs while the other pulled his arms above his head so he could barely move.

"You're freaking mental. All of you." Todd bucked his body and struggled, but he didn't stand a chance against two strong men.

Cardell twisted open the top of the sports bottle, rested a hand on the back of the settee, and leaned over Todd. "If you'd drunk your hot chocolate, we could have avoided this."

The Professor dug his fingers in Todd's jaw and shoved the top of the bottle between his teeth. A jet of bitter liquid hit the back of his tongue. He gagged and coughed, some of it going down the wrong way, choking him.

"Don't hurt the lad." Grandpa's tentative plea came from the doorway.

"Grandpa!" Todd jerked and struggled harder. "Help me. Please."

Professor Cardell turned, frowning. "I told you to meet us in the woods. Having you here will only complicate matters."

Grandpa appeared a few paces behind the professor's left shoulder, his expression an agonized mixture of fear and guilt. "Please don't hurt him, William."

"Everything that happens to this boy is your fault. We wouldn't even need him if you hadn't sold Hendra Farm to the Cochrans against my express instructions."

"But I didn't—"

"Get out," Cardell snapped. "Meet us at the Offering Tree."

When Grandpa backed away without saying another word, Todd's little spurt of hope died.

The professor turned his attention back to Todd, aiming the bottle spout at his face. "One more mouthful should be enough. We don't want you unconscious; we just want you docile." Todd locked his jaw, determined not to swallow any more of the foul concoction. Cardell gripped Todd's face again and the bitter liquid flooded his mouth. He coughed and spluttered. Half the liquid overflowed his mouth and soaked his t-shirt.

"That'll do." Cardell went to the door. "Give the potion ten minutes to take effect, then get him dressed."

The men released him and backed out, never taking their eyes off him. Todd sat up and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, furious, his headache pounding again. He had a good mind to trash the room. It would serve the old man right. Todd pushed a lamp off the end table beside the sofa. It hit the floor with a satisfying crunch as the glass shade shattered. He tried to stand, but his head was swimming again. He blinked repeatedly, but it didn't do any good.

He sank back against the cushions feeling nauseous. The next thing he knew, Cardell was leaning over him, slapping his cheeks. "Wake up, young man. It's time to go."

"Go away," Todd tried to say, but his words came out slurred.

Henry hauled Todd to his feet and he swayed. Fabric was dragged down over his head and his arms pushed into loose sleeves. They'd covered his clothes with a green robe, the cuffs stiffly patterned with gold thread. He blinked down as Cardell tied a gold belt around his waist.

Each grasping one of his arms, Henry and Steve led him from the room. He stumbled along between his captors, the surroundings blurred and hazy. They sat him on a chair and he put his head between his knees feeling as though he might throw up. He didn't remember standing up again, but suddenly he was outside, beams of light dancing through the darkness ahead.

Todd's feet dragged, forcing the two men to half carry him. Voices murmured, but he couldn't hear what they said. After a while, he became aware of cooler air against his face, the fragrance of the forest. The shapes illuminated by the flashlights made more sense to him now. Tree trunks and branches loomed beside the path. He concentrated on placing his feet, tried to count his footsteps, but he kept forgetting where he'd left off.

Many flashlights gleamed as they entered a clearing, highlighting the huge gnarled shape of the Offering Tree. Glittering, colorful decorations sparkled on the tree, making it look like some bizarre Christmas tree. At the thought of Christmas, his mind went to his family. Would he ever see Mum and Emma again?