could throttle someone.
“Why? Why would he go through? And where is Heath?” She turned her black eyes on Seb as if he were to blame.
Seb stammered, “Something came out of the doorway.”
“It attacked Seb,” Nat explained. “Mr Duir rescued him but Heath disappeared. Then a ghostly cloud came out and surrounded Mr Duir. The Sentinels and Dryads helped him destroy it. I think Mr Duir thought Heath had been dragged through the doorway, so he followed.”
“And you would know this, how?” Miss Angel asked, surprised.
“I didn’t drink the water,” Nat said simply. “I felt something wasn’t right, so I pretended to drink and to be asleep and I watched. When the attack happened I did try to wake Miss West,” she blinked down at the fuming dwarf, “and Zach, but that is a powerful mixture whatever you took; I couldn’t rouse either of you. The thing is I think— ”
She was cut off as Miss West ranted at Seb, “Why didn’t you stop him?”
Scarlet was incredulous. “Seriously? Seb stop Mr Duir? When have any of you ever paid any attention to what he, or in fact any of us, say or think? You seriously believe Seb could have persuaded Mr Duir not to go, or somehow prevented him?” She thrust her chin out, her face red with indignation.
Miss West opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Mr West sidled over to Nat.
“Nat, the Passage of the Elders has always been conducted in this way and I noted nothing to indicate there was danger. You say you felt something? I felt nothing. It would appear that my senses are less keen than yours which, given the years I have devoted to this role, is interesting.” He sounded intrigued. “And I am certain Aelfric and Heath knew nothing; they would have felt the sign.” He looked at Seb, putting him uncomfortably back in the spotlight. “Did you have a warning?”
“Seb, you know what the signs are,” Alice encouraged him. Seb did. He knew enough now to recognise that the thumping and pounding in his palm was a sign of danger or imbalance and he thought back to when he had first felt it.
“When the door opened,” he mumbled. “I felt it then.” He shuddered, remembering the icy touch on his throat.
Mr West turned back to Nat, puzzled. “But, Nat, you sensed something was wrong before they crossed the lake?”
She nodded and mumbled less certainly, “It’s always there. I feel it every time we are w— ”
“Oh, enough of this!” Trudy West had whipped herself back into an angry state. “We must bring him – them – back!”
“What?” Her brother was stunned.
“We cannot leave Aelfric and Heath without protection. Who knows what they are up against; we must bring them back.”
“Trudy, we are all concerned, but there is nothing to be done but wait. We cannot open the door without them. You know that,” Miss Angel cautioned.
Seb knew what was coming before Aiden uttered the words.
“Seb can!” Aiden stared wide-eyed at Seb. He still sat on the colourful rug, his hair covered in fireflies, which seemed to like him as much as the flamers.
Seb shuffled his feet as everyone looked at him.
“That’s great then; we can go after them.” The answer seemed simple to Zach.
The Caretaker stoked the logs of the fire, crushing the spent ones to glowing embers as the fresh ones blazed. “We cannot have passage through that door. It is for the Elders and the Custodians only.”
Nat protested, “Seb can’t open that door anyway. Something from out of there tried to attack him!”
“We’re here this time, Nat. And I don’t see why we can’t go through,” Zach stated. “Who says only Custodians and Elders can go through that door?” He paused and pointed at Miss Angel. “And you don’t get much Elder than that!”
Scarlet stamped on his toe. “Zach!”
Miss Angel smiled, genuinely amused by his comment.
“Zach, it is The Ancient Teachings that say. Now, we are all concerned about Heath and Aelfric but our position is clear – we must wait.” Mr West sighed.
“Well what do the Ancient Teachings say – exactly?” asked Aiden.
Mr White spoke in a near tremulous voice.
“To be precise the teachings say:
Whosoever unavowed through Elder Door doth tread
Must ever more be lost among the dead
“And from that you got Custodians and Elders only?” Zach asked, shaking his head. “And a poem – seriously?” He laughed.
“Surely ‘unavowed’ just means not allowed, not sanctioned. Who gives permission?” Aiden asked. No one answered. “If we are going to rescue the Custodians aren’t we allowed – avowed?” The teachers looked doubtful. Mr White had a frown on his face so deep it looked like his forehead was divided in half.
“We have always been told it is not for us.”
“Who by?” Scarlet asked.
“Our own mentors … as told to them by their mentors; it has always been that way.”
“Dryad teachings are the same,” Dierne said.
Seb secretly hoped the teachers would stand firm and forbid them to go but then he thought of Mr Duir saving him before walking into that void, alone, to face whatever was in there in order to save Heath. He felt ashamed of himself.
“I’ll go.” His voice was no more than a whisper, but the Sentinels around him suddenly stood to attention and four of them formed a line behind him, facing the lake.
“Wow, remind me why I’m here again.” Zach stared at them in admiration. “So, we’re good to go, then?”
“Well, that’s me in,” Alice said, dropping down to stand beside Seb who could have hugged him.
Aiden’s voice was thoughtful. “You know, I think those words don’t specifically say Custodians only; that’s just one interpretation.” He looked at the teachers. “Seb,” he said, stepping around the Knights, “I’ll come.”
Zach dashed forward. “Hey, I suggested it first. Move over, Aiden.” He gently nudged Aiden sideways to stand behind Seb.
Seb, stomach fluttering with nerves, was glad of the company and even more glad when Scarlet and Nat joined them.
“Wagons roll?” Zach asked.
Mr West cleared his throat.
“Well, Trudy?” He smiled at his sister who gave a stiff nod.
“I would rather be lost among the dead than leave Aelfric and Heath abandoned,” she said.
Nodding, Dierne joined them too, and The Caretaker silently stepped in line.
Zach, noticing that Miss West and The Caretaker had both drawn their staffs, pulled his out of his trouser pocket and planted the tip in the chalky earth, beaming.
Mr West approached Miss Angel. She put a hand up, shaking her head.
“They may return. I’ll await the call,” she said.
Mr West smiled then joined the group with Mr White who said to Aiden, “We’ll need you to follow the map.”
Aiden blushed. “Mr Duir took my tin.” Mr White frowned then, smiling, held his own tin out to Aiden who took it gratefully.
There was a pause as everyone seemed to wait for someone else to take the lead.
Eventually Zach said, “Come on, Seb. You started this.”
Seb couldn’t quite work out how Zach figured that. He felt sick with fear and starvation and swallowed hard as he placed a foot on the lake.
“Woah, Seb … a boat maybe?” Zach said. “I’m not swimming!”
Seb stepped onto the surface of the lake. He didn’t know why he got so much pleasure out of the fact he could walk on water but in spite of the tense atmosphere and the daunting prospect of what lay ahead he found himself chuckling again.
“How are you doing that?” Zach asked, leaning forward to stare into the lake.
Seb decided not to reveal the water-imps.
“Magic, Zach,” he laughed. “Come on.”
He turned and began walking. The Knights strode after him. Nat, having seen it before, was the first to place her faith in whatever it was that held them up. She put a foot fi
rmly onto the water and then grinned as it was supported. A slight nudge from the teachers and the others followed, all laughing as they realised they too could walk on water.
The group’s mood became more sombre as they reached the canopy of the vast tree, congregating in a huddle in the twilight darkness in front of the four Sentinels guarding the invisible doorway. On Seb’s approach the Knights parted.
“What now?” Zach asked, lifting his feet, looking for what was keeping them up.
“Seb needs to open the door,” Mr West said.
“You need to capture the light, Seb,” Dierne told him.
Seb raised his hand and caught the light from the tunnel the Dryads had made in the tree branches. As it bounced off his birthmark onto the knotted trunk the dark panelling and misshapen knob of the old door appeared.
Seb waited for the door to open as before. It didn’t. Everyone stood in silence. Zach gave up.
“Come on, Seb. Open the door,” he almost shouted.
“It opened by itself last time …”
“Well maybe it needs a little help this time,” Zach said.
Taking a deep breath, Seb seized the doorknob. The moment he did he was given a snapshot of the thousands of times this door had been opened, as if the knob itself held a memory file of every hand that touched it. Starting with a face Seb did not recognise, images of it flashed in his mind over and over, showing each occasion when that person had turned the doorknob. Then that face was replaced by a second one which appeared time and again in Seb’s head for each occasion they had opened this door. Then a third, and so on, replaying in Seb’s mind a multitude of openings by a finite number of people. Seb saw Heath now, opening the door time after time, and finally Mr Duir, his face