20
Back to Save the World
Bryony choked, the air squeezed from her lungs by the heavy object that pinned her to the ground. It didn’t feel like a lump of stone; it was more soft than hard. And furry.
Furry? Bryony managed a scream, and the soft furry thing jumped off her stomach.
“I do apologise,” trilled a familiar voice. “Are you two all right?”
“Stubby,” shrieked Edwin. “You found us!”
Bryony wasn’t as thrilled at the mouse’s return. “You can say that again,” she muttered, standing up to dust herself down. “Almost crushed me to death.”
“Tunnelling is an imprecise art at the best of times,” said Stubby. “And mice are not diggers by nature. We prefer to leave that sort of thing to moles and suchlike.”
“Well I’m glad you’re here,” gushed Edwin. “I thought you’d left for good.”
“I fully intended to,” revealed Stubby. “I wasn’t going to hang around here and get squashed by bulldozers.”
“You could have let me know,” bleated Edwin. “I was worried stupid about you.”
“I’m touched,” said Stubby. “But I dare say that didn’t require a great amount of worry.”
“So why did you come back?” asked Bryony.
“I’ll explain later. First, we need to get out of here. It’s a long trek and we’re running out of time. I’ll lead the way.”
“Hold on,” called Bryony, as she heard Stubby scrambling into the distance. “We can’t see you.”
Stubby returned in an instant. “Sorry. I was forgetting that you humans have such undeveloped nocturnal vision. Very well, grab hold of my tail.”
Bryony jumped as something thin and scaly squirmed into her hands.
“And you Edwin,” ordered Stubby. “Got a grip? Good. Let’s get going. It’s a little steep in places, but you should be able to manage even with only two legs.”
Holding tightly to Stubby’s stumpy tail, Bryony and Edwin were hoisted up into the freshly dug passage. Stubby had said it was a ‘little steep’, but it felt to Bryony like she was climbing a mountain. Edwin found the going even more difficult, and almost fell back down on more than one occasion. In the end Bryony had to take hold of his hand again, and the two of them clung tightly to each other as Stubby dragged them to safety.
“So Stubby,” began Edwin, once the going got easier, “why did you come back to save us?”
“I didn’t come back to save you. I came back to save the world.”
“The world?” said Bryony. “What are you on about?”
“Haven’t you two cloth heads worked it out yet?” Stubby tutted like an impatient teacher. “Why do you think you were shrunk down and almost killed by Pauncefoot and Dawes? It’s because they want Wychetts.”
Bryony thought that unlikely. “They don’t seem suited to each other.”
“They don’t want a nice home to settle down in and raise a family,” sighed Stubby. “It’s Wychetts’ power they seek.”
Bryony nodded as things started to make sense. “So they want Wychett’s magic for themselves.”
“Not quite. They’re working for someone else.”
“I know,” said Edwin, before Bryony could ask. “The Shadow Clan. Katya and Dawes are working for the Shadow Clan.”
“That’s right,” confirmed Stubby. “My suspicions were aroused when I was leaving the house, and spied the two creatures in the garden. I’d seen Pauncefoot before. She was the cat who attacked me when I was outside your house, Edwin. The day you found me somewhat worse for wear.”
Edwin gasped at the news. “Why was Katya snooping around my house?”
“She was keeping an eye on you. Dawes was probably watching Bryony in the same way. The Shadow Clan knew you were Guardians in waiting, the ones who would awaken Wychetts’ power. They even set up the sale of the house to Bryony’s father. It was all planned quite meticulously. It gets low here, watch your heads.”
“I don’t get it.” Bryony stooped in response to Stubby’s warning. “Why go to all that trouble to get us here if they planned to take Wychetts from us?”
Stubby had the answer. “Remember what Inglenook said? The Shadow Clan acquired Wychetts hundreds of years ago, but couldn’t use the magic because they took the house by force. Wychetts power will only work if it is freely given. And you gave it away, didn’t you?”
“No we didn’t,” protested Bryony.
“I saw everything,” said Stubby. “I followed Pauncefoot back into the house, and watched as you two idiots struck a deal with her. You gave Wychetts away, and gave the power away with it.”
“This is your fault,” rasped Edwin, prodding Bryony in the back. “Now the world will end. And there’ll be a shortage of ice cream.”
“Hang on a moment,” countered Byrony. “You were happy to go along with the deal.”
“That’s because I wanted to save Wychetts. I wasn’t just thinking about myself.”
“The only reason you don’t think about yourself is because it would be too depressing.”
“Oh please,” groaned Stubby. “Arguing won’t help the situation. You’ve got to work together if you’re going to save Wychetts. And the world, for that matter.”
“Huh?” Edwin stopped prodding Bryony in the back. “You mean we can still stop the Shadow Clan?”
“All is not lost,” said Stubby. “The Clan are gathering here tonight. Every black witch and wizard in the land will attend. Even their leader, the infamous Dark One, will be present.”
“But what can we do against all those wizards?” whined Edwin. “We’re just tiny.”
“Being small never stopped mice from achieving great things,” said Stubby.
“Like what?” asked Bryony. “Chewing through wires and leaving little black doo-doos everywhere?”
“I wouldn’t list those things as mice’s greatest achievements. Although some wire chewing is considered of great artistic value. Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand, there is a way you can defeat the Shadow Clan. By using Wychetts’ power.”
“But we don’t have any power left,” sighed Edwin. “At least, not until midnight.”
“One minute past midnight,” said Bryony, remembering the deal she had struck with Katya. “So all we have to do is wait until midnight, then…”
“Use the power to get rid of the Shadow Clan!” Edwin squealed with delight. “Fantastic!”
Bryony wasn’t so sure. “But what happens next? We agreed to hand over Wychetts at one minute past midnight. After that, will we be able to use the magic again? Or will we have given it away forever?”
“I do not know,” confessed Stubby. “But that isn’t important in the grand scheme of things. The main goal is to stop the Shadow Clan getting their hands on Wychetts.”
Bryony wasn’t so sure about that. “But I want to use the magic to get to my mum, and I might not be able to use it again after one minute past midnight.”
“You might still have time,” suggested Edwin, clinging tighter to Stubby’s tail as the tunnel became steeper again.
“No I won’t. Inglenook said it would take him one minute to get me to America. So I have to wish for that on the stroke of midnight.”
“No matter,” said Edwin. “We’re both Guardians. You can use your half of magic to fly off to your mum, I’ll use my half to defeat the Shadow Clan and save the world.”
“I’m afraid that won’t work,” said Stubby. “Remember that you made a deal with Miss Pauncefoot? The only way to stop the Shadow Clan will be to undo that deal, and that will need a vast amount of magic. You will have to combine your powers to stand any chance of victory.”
“Combine our power?” Edwin and Bryony spoke together. “How?”
“You must wish for the same thing. Both of you, at the same time.”
“Us wish the same thing?” Edwin and Bryony spoke together again. “That’s impossible.”
“But you must,” implored Stubby. “The future of the world is at stake.”
“That may be the case,” huffed Bryony. “But I’m not going to wish for the same thing he wants. Never in a million years.”
“And I won’t wish for what she wants,” added Edwin. “Never in a trillion years.”
“I could bang your heads together,” sighed Stubby, “but that would achieve nothing except a dull hollow sound. Just for once, you will have to stop your petty squabbles and think of the bigger picture. Together you have the strength to defeat the Shadow Clan, to save Wychetts and deliver the world from chaos. If you act separately, each following your own wishes, everything is doomed.”
“He’s right,” said Edwin, after a few moments thought. “We have to work together, Bryony. If the Shadow Clan get hold of Wychetts’ power, they’ll destroy the world and everything in it.”
“So what?” said Bryony. “Mum will look after me, whatever happens. And anyway, if I don’t act now, I may never get another chance to get back with her. You’d feel the same if it was your mum.”
“My mum?” Edwin gasped. “Stubby, do you know what’s happened to my mum? Did Katya and Dawes get her?”
“And my dad,” added Bryony, who had forgotten about any possible danger to her father. “What’s happened to him?”
“I don’t know,” said Stubby. “They may have escaped, or been taken prisoner by Pauncefoot and Dawes. Or…”
“Or eaten?” asked Edwin, gulping.
Bryony’s stomach lurched. “Oh no! We’ve got to find them.”
“You must be patient,” said Stubby. “You can do nothing to save your parents until after midnight, when you will once again have Wychetts’ power at your disposal. To attempt anything before then would be suicide.”
“How long have we got?” asked Bryony, still unable to make out the hands on her wristwatch.
“Ssshh!” ordered Edwin. “I can hear something.”
Bryony listened. At first she heard nothing; then she caught a weird noise echoing down the tunnel. It sounded like a babble of excited voices, interspersed with animal-like squeaks and squeals.
“We’re nearing the surface,” said Stubby. “We must take care now.”
Bryony saw dim light filtering down the tunnel. The weird noise grew louder, becoming a deafening din as they reached the top of the tunnel and emerged into the lounge through a hole in the skirting board.
At first Bryony couldn’t see anything, and just stood there blinking whilst her eyes adjusted to the light. And when her vision finally cleared, what she saw made her want to run straight back down the tunnel.
The lounge was full of people. Well, not all of them were people. Many were animals, and a few looked like they were a bit of both.
“What are they?” she asked, gaping in astonishment and horror.
“The Shadow Clan,” whispered Stubby. “Every dark witch, wizard and warlock in the world has answered the summons to be here tonight.”
“But why?” hissed Edwin. “What have they come here for?”
Stubby turned and stared at the children with his black button eyes. “To celebrate the end of the world. Our world, that is. And the beginning of theirs.”