Moon Chase - A Fellhounds of Thesk Story Read online

  Tally slouched towards the hot range and Martha, looking even more put out, picked up her shawl. She put her hand on the door handle and hesitated.

  ‘I just don’t think that -’

  ‘Thank you for breakfast Martha, we will see you later – Tally will need some help with the linen in the infirmary. Be sure to take up some rosewater for Bryn - he was looking very tired this morning.’

  Lady Élanor stood at the door and watched Martha stomp across the court-yard carrying a basket laden with freshly baked bread and warm boiled eggs. She disappeared into the infirmary and Lady Élanor turned back into the kitchen– the hint of a smile on her lips. Tally swirled the cooking eggs angrily and served them up without a word.

  They ate – the silence broken only by the sound of cutting bread and the clatter of cutlery – mainly Tally’s!

  Finally Lady Élanor put her knife and fork together and spoke.

  ‘Wil, I owe you an explanation… and an apology – and so does Talasina,’ she said looking pointedly towards Tally.

  ‘Huh! It’s funny how you only ever call me Talasina when I’m in trouble!’ objected the petulant girl through a mouthful of bread and eggs.

  Lady Élanor shot a warning look in her sister’s direction. Wil pushed his food around his plate and waited for the next bit of bad news.

  ‘The evening that Cedric and Arbert brought you here Tally looked into your mind. She saw what had really happened from your own memories, which cannot lie,’ explained Lady Élanor.

  ‘What?’

  Wil struggled to understand what she was telling him but then realisation dawned and a hot wave of anger welled-up inside him. Unspoken questions filled his mind. Why had Tally not spoken about this at his trial? Why had the Order not called for her to give evidence if they knew she could read people’s minds?

  Lady Élanor seemed to sense his thoughts and carried on.

  ‘It is a gift that Tally and I share, Wil: but Tally can see detail, hear voices and recall smells and sounds if they are there in a person’s memory – I can only see the images that people remember. Our problem is that no-one, but you now, knows about our gift. If they did we would surely be cast out as witches, or worse!’

  ‘So why are you telling me? You’ve hardly used your gift to help me out! Or is it because I’m probably going to die anyway, so telling me won’t count?’

  Wil was on his feet. Anger and confusion whirled around his mind. He paced the flagstone floor, clenching and unclenching his fists.

  ‘We are telling you Wil because for some reason Tally is having a very bad effect on you when she goes into your memories. She didn’t affect you at the trial because she was directing thoughts to you,’ explained Lady Élanor. Her expression suggested that she was regretting telling Wil this, but she went on in a level tone. ‘When she tries to read you it’s as if you are fighting her - like you’re trying to block her intrusion – actually, it…it’s quite interesting really.’

  ‘Well, I can assure you – interesting is not the way I would describe it – it hurts like hell!’ Wil blazed. Her calmness made him even more annoyed.

  ‘We can see that, Wil, and that is why we felt we owed you an explanation,’ replied Lady Élanor. ‘And in future Tally has promised not to go into your mind without warning you – although she probably saved your life this morning – and indeed, although you don’t think it now, she certainly helped to defend you yesterday.’

  ‘Defend me!…DEFEND ME!’ yelled Wil - as apologies went he was yet to find anything he could forgive. ‘What bit of sending me on a Moon Chase to be torn apart by savage wild animals is a successful defence, hey?’

  He sat down hard on his chair and put his head in his hands – when was this nightmare going to end?

  ‘Your dream, Wil - we think you can See, too - with some help we think you could develop your gift.’

  ‘Great! Well at least that’ll help to while away the time over the next two days – and I thought I was going to be bored – what with waiting to be killed and all!!!’

  ‘Wil, I think that’s enough! Stop feeling sorry for yourself and listen. Believe it or not – we are – and have been – trying to help you!’

  Lady Élanor’s face was ash-white. Wil breathed deeply and struggled to calm down - all he really wanted to do was smash a lot of things into very small pieces!

  A wasp flew in through the open kitchen window. Groggy in the late autumn, it drifted haphazardly over to the kitchen table and landed on a drop of honey that by some happy chance had dripped onto the pine during breakfast. Wil watched as the wasp nestled into its glorious find only to discover that the sticky substance held it fast. It started to buzz with irritation.

  BANG! Wil slammed his hand down on to the wasp and crushed it instantly. Tally jumped. Then, without another word, he got up and walked out of the kitchen, into the sitting room and out through the front door, which was still ajar.

  ‘I knew you wouldn’t go far,’ said Lady Élanor gently.

  Wil hadn’t heard her approach. He was sitting on the stump of an ancient tree outside the library, watching a ladybird clamber through a young elder bush. He had steered away from the front garden to avoid the attentions of any passing townsfolk. He was still livid.

  ‘What – were you missing me already - your new experiment?’ Wil spat bitterly. ‘You’ll forgive me if I don’t thank you for this latest piece of news, but I’m all out of gratitude after your fantastic achievement yesterday.’

  Before Lady Élanor spoke she stooped and picked a sweet pea pod from a knot of pale green strands that twisted among the elder.

  ‘I do understand your anger, Wil, and I know you feel that I have let you down. But the outcome of the trial yesterday could very easily have been a lot worse for you. I have never seen so many people in the Great Hall for a hearing. Cedric is a highly respected man in Saran, and Seth is a popular boy – being selected to be a Fellman is a great honour for any family. You, a complete stranger, were found standing over his badly injured body – just think how that must have looked to his father - so yesterday, with things as they stood, the town wanted you to hang.’

  Wil kept his eyes on two jackdaws tumbling and turning in the sky above her head.

  ‘The Order was certainly influenced by both my presence at your side, and my account of your story,’ she continued. ‘But, Wil, there was no way they could have just let you walk free from that court – there would have been rioting in the streets! Don’t forget that people are already restless because they see the Order as being weak against Lord Rexmoore and his constant demands for higher and higher taxes. The Order had to make a stand yesterday, for the sake of peace within the town walls.’

  Wil did not speak for a long time. The buzz of autumn insects mingled with birdsong from the surrounding trees and the jackdaws continued to play. Now and then a swallow darted over the top of the borders, deftly scooping flies out of the air as it swooped. In any other situation, Wil thought bitterly, this would be a beautiful day in a wonderful place!

  ‘I don’t understand – up on the Fell Cedric told me that you would make me tell the truth and he then laughed when Tally looked into my mind…’, he paused and kicked a stone from one foot to the other in the dry earth as he remembered Cedric’s cruel taunts. ‘So…so why didn’t everyone just listen to you in the court?’

  Lady Élanor walked forwards and stood over Wil.

  ‘The people of Saran know that Tally and I have powers that they do not understand, Wil, and as long as we use them for the good of the town they make us welcome,’ she replied.

  ‘So what’s this gift I’m supposed to have?’ asked Wil, keeping his eyes fixed on the ladybird.

  ‘The dream you had – the one that told you that Seth and Farrow had been attacked – you remember how vivid it was?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘We think you were watching it through Farrow.’

  Wil looked up at her in disbelief and laughed.

  �
�What? Oh, riiight… I can read the minds of animals - animals I’ve never met before – in fact – never even heard of before?’

  ‘How else do you explain how you saw everything that happened when Seth was unconscious?’ she persisted, her voice level and quiet.

  Wil flicked the stone at his feet and thought. Although not often, he did have strange dreams about moving through the darkness of the forest – in one he was ripping apart a sheep in the hills above Grizzledale – the images had been very graphic! Then, the next day he had been working at the little inn in Mistlegard and over-heard one of the shepherd’s moaning that his flock had been attacked in the night up by the lake - the shepherd had no idea what had attacked but apparently it had left behind some very big foot prints among the sorry carcasses!

  But Wil still wasn’t convinced and certainly did not want to share that particular memory.

  ‘I don’t know – I just saw it,’ he said irritably.

  ‘Anyway – I can’t see how this is going to help me on the Moon Chase!’

  ‘Think about it, Wil. If you could get into the minds of the Wraithe Wolves you will know where they are and how they are approaching. Surely that will give you the edge in the Chase?’

  ‘Give me the edge? I thought that was up to the Fellmen and the hounds – aren’t I just the bait?’

  Lady Élanor laughed out loud.

  ‘The bait? I know you think that being sent on the Moon Chase is unjust Wil Calloway, but the Saranites are not barbarians!’

  Then she spoke more seriously.

  ‘You will be an active part of the hunt though – it is dangerous and you have the disadvantage that you have never seen one before - or been trained for it. That is why your trial, Wil - it is a test of your courage and your character. You will be there to help defend the others, not just yourself! If you do that and survive you will prove to the Order and to the people of Saran that you are worthy of your freedom.’

  ‘And if I die?’

  Turning from him, Lady Élanor looked out over the technicoloured garden.

  ‘If you die fighting you will have proved your innocence – die running away and no one in Saran will lose any sleep over your loss.’

  Wil pushed his hands through his hair and then looked at her again.

  ‘And you can help me with this… this mind reading stuff?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I can’t see I’ve got a choice then – have I?’

  ‘Tally and I will help you.’

  Lady Élanor turned back towards the house, leaving Wil alone in the sunshine. But as she walked away she called over her shoulder, ‘By the way – Grizzledale is on the edge of Tel Harion!’

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Fellhounds

  Tally reappeared a little later. Her mood had lifted. As the three of them sat at the kitchen table drinking tea and munching on a supremely delicious apple cake Tally talked at length about Willow and her pups. All were now out of danger, although one pup was still rather small. After a brief pause, she began to tell her sister about one of the patients in the infirmary. She spoke in an exaggerated whisper, but Wil was only half-listening anyway.

  ‘He sat up this morning and ate a whole bowl of porridge – although I had to put loads of honey on it before he would even give it a try! I think he’s too used to his mother pandering to him,’ she said with a tone of disapproval. ‘He’s also refusing to drink the hyssop tea – I won’t repeat what he said it tasted of!’

  ‘Tell him that it will help to heal his wound and take away that headache… tell him that if he will not drink it, I will administer it another way!’ said Lady Élanor in a voice that made Wil resolve to drink anything that she ever told him to drink. Tally took another bite of her cake and then went on in a conspiratorial tone.

  ‘His mother also told him about the Moon Chase when she came to see him earlier. He’s now insisting that he must be there!’

  Wil was now listening intently. He had the distinct impression that Tally was not keen on this current patient.

  Suddenly Wil’s head started to tingle. Lady Élanor threw a warning glance at her sister.

  ‘Talasina – what did I say about reading Wil’s thoughts without warning him first!’

  ‘Sorry, but he’s listening!’ objected Tally. ‘And he was trying to read mine – I could feel it!’

  ‘I was not!’ Wil lied. ‘Anyway, I couldn’t. I can’t just do it like you two can – I never tried before, it always just happened – what ever it is!’

  Wil was already very frustrated. After Lady Élanor had left him in the garden he had sat for ages trying, without success, to read Pricilla’s thoughts while she pecked happily at a dead frog; he had also stared determinedly up at the brown mouse that lived in the thatch above the front door, but all he had got for his efforts was an eye full of tiny mouse droppings!

  ‘I think it might be best if you start with an animal that you have read before,’ Lady Élanor suggested. ‘I am going up to the stables to see Willow today – I want you to come with me. Willow is still sedated so she shouldn’t be too difficult to practise on.’

  Although not entirely convinced, Wil felt a little more cheerful that they were actually going to do something and readily accepted the invitation. Only a short while later they set off for the stables.

  ‘Eli, please will you just call in as you’re passing and check that our patient has actually drunk his hyssop?’ called Tally as Lady Élanor and Wil made their way across the courtyard.

  Lady Élanor held up her hand to show that she had heard and stepped into the entrance hall of the infirmary. A huge oak door opposite lay wide open.

  ‘Wait here, I will only be a moment,’ instructed Lady Élanor, then she disappeared into the ward through another door and closed it quietly behind her.

  Alone, Wil stood in the vast doorway and looked out at a wooded garden full of towering copper-beech trees. Each one reached straight up for the sky into a leafy canopy that blazed gold, russet and red. Through the smooth-barked trees, Wil could just about make out a narrow dirt track that disappeared in the shadow of the trees.

  A sudden shout followed by a loud crash of crockery hitting plaster jolted Wil back from the peace of the woodland scene that rolled out before him.

  ‘I AM NOT DRINKING ANY MORE OF THAT – I HATE IT! Why can’t my mother make my food – I hate all the stuff you give me! And I AM going to the Moon Chase and you can’t stop me!’

  ‘Do not test me, Seth Tanner. You will eat the food that I give you and you will not be going anywhere without my say so – unless you have no intention of ever needing the services of this infirmary again!’

  ‘I WON’T EAT THIS RUBBISH AND I WILL GO ON THE MOON CHASE!’ screamed the boy. Wil pushed the door to the ward open a crack. The boy was throwing whatever he could lay his hands on at Lady Élanor who was now backing-away with her arms over her head.

  Wil charged into the room straight past Lady Élanor and grabbed the boy who was standing by his bed brandishing a bedpan.

  ‘I think that’s enough, don’t you?’ Wil said firmly. Though much smaller than Wil, Seth struggled to get free while Wil attempted to prise the bedpan out of the boy’s fingers - mercifully it was empty.

  ‘WIL, WHAT, BY THE MOONS, DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?’ Lady Élanor stood stock still, her face even whiter than usual. The boy in the bed immediately let go of the bedpan and stared at Wil.

  ‘You… you’re the one who attacked me,’ he whispered – his wide eyes staring in disbelief as it dawned on him just who was holding his arm. ‘My father told me what happened. He saved me… you… you tried to kill me!’

  ‘I didn’t,’ objected Wil. He let go of Seth’s arm as if he’d been burned. ‘I was trying to save you.’

  Then Wil turned and marched out of the room, out of the infirmary and up the path through the woods. He could hear Lady Élanor’s voice behind him but her words meant nothing – he didn’t even know if she was addressing him or the spoil
t brat in the bed.

  By the time Lady Élanor had caught up Wil had almost reached the stable block just beyond the beech wood. Seth’s words had brought back all of his anxieties and more besides.

  ‘Wil, wait… stop now… I demand that you stop!’

  He stopped abruptly. Lady Élanor, quite breathless, stormed up. Wil stood still and fixed a stubborn gaze towards the stables.

  ‘What part of “Do not go into the Infirmary” did you not understand, Wil?’ she asked through gritted teeth but ploughed-on without waiting for an answer. ‘I am perfectly capable of dealing with a sick patient in my own infirmary and do not need to be rescued by some meddlesome boy – especially when that boy is accused of being the reason why I have that patient in the first place! Do you understand me?’

  ‘I was just…’ Wil started, but Lady Élanor was far too angry to listen to any explanations.

  ‘There are so many reasons why you meeting Seth Tanner at this time was not a good idea that I do not know where to start! You have already been found standing over his unconscious body once – just what do you think his father is going to say when he hears that you have attacked him in his hospital bed?’

  ‘I didn’t …’ tried Wil again, but Lady Élanor was not finished.

  ‘I am risking a great deal more than you know in helping you, young man. In exchange I do not think it unreasonable to ask for a bit of co-operation. If I ask you to do – or not to do something – I can assure you it is for good reason… at the rate that you are going, the Moon Chase is going to be the least of your worries – if you live that long!’

  She marched off towards the stables without another word, leaving Wil open-mouthed.

  ‘People round here really have got a funny way of saying “Thank you for helping me out back there”!’ he said to himself and gloomily followed Lady Élanor’s blazing trail around into the stable block.

  ‘..on to six feeds a day now, but this lot are still being fed on the hour…’

  A short, stocky man stopped speaking and looked up as Wil skulked into the warm, dusty stock shed. A small plump puppy lolled across one of his arms - Lady Élanor was stooped over five more lying fast asleep on a bed of straw.