Alfie Bloom and the Secrets of Hexbridge Castle (8 page)

 

“It looks ancient,” said Robin, lying on the floor and peering into the open mouth of a dusty bearskin rug.

It was several days after the letter from Orin Hopcraft. Alfie hadn't told his dad about the letter. What if he panicked and wanted Caspian to take back the castle along with the magic? Alfie couldn't bear the thought of losing the castle and the closeness he was starting to feel with his dad. Besides, Alfie was enjoying having his own secret for once. Orin had said that no one knew about magic in his time, so he had decided that he could deal with being treated as a hiding place if a castle was the reward. Although he still wasn't sure what it meant to be guardian of an ancient magic.

Robin and Madeleine were staying over again and they were all on a midnight mission to explore the castle. Alfie had been unable to find Orin's study so had decided they would explore the southern tower. The second he unlocked the hidden door, Madeleine shot past him and up the stairs like a rocket.

The spiral staircase seemed to go on for ever as they investigated the dark, mostly empty rooms on the way up. Alfie had brought the silver whistle as instructed by Caspian. He blew it in each room they passed but nothing happened – it didn't even make a noise. Maybe it was broken? The last room at the top of the tower was different from the others, cosily furnished and decorated with artefacts from many different countries, painted shields, colourful masks, silk paintings from China. A harpsichord stood in the far corner along with a funny-looking set of bagpipes. In front of the fireplace was the bearskin rug that Robin was currently staring into the mouth of.

“He must have been very frightening when he was alive,” said Madeleine, patting the rug as Alfie gave one last blast on the whistle.

“Very kind of you to say so, lass,” said a deep rumbling voice as the bear's head lifted and turned round to face them.

Alfie nearly choked on the whistle as Robin scrambled backwards, knocking over Madeleine in his haste to get away from the talking rug. Alfie watched the bear in astonishment as he floated gently into the air, gave a loud yawn and began to shake himself like a dog that had just had a bath. Centuries of dust and loose hair swirled around the room.

When he finally seemed satisfied, the bear turned to Alfie, whose own hair was now full of dust.

“Well then, young lad. I have been asleep too long and could do with getting the wind through my fur. Since you woke me, you can decide where we're going.”

Alfie stared at the bear's shiny glass eyes and grinning mouth, wondering whether to answer or run for his life. The bear seemed to be enjoying the reaction he was getting and rolled his eyes before speaking very slowly and loudly, as if to someone hard of hearing, “WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO?”

“You mean you can take us anywhere?” asked Robin finding his voice.

“Now you're getting it,” growled the bear with a grin. “Within reason, of course. The moon could take a while so you'd need plenty of sandwiches, and a jumper – it's cold up there.”

Alfie gathered his wits. The bear couldn't exactly eat him – it didn't even have a stomach. He decided to test it. He opened a window and pointed down to the Merryweather Farm.

“Can you take us over there, to the tree house on that farm?”

The bear looked unimpressed and made a loud yawning noise.

“How about Newcastle?” suggested Robin. “It's about half an hour east of here.”

For a creature without shoulders, Alfie thought the bear gave a very good shrug. “Pah!”

“OK,” said Robin, how about to—”

“LONDON!” shouted Madeleine, jumping into the air.

“Don't be stupid, Maddie. That would take hours.”

“Not as the bear flies,” it laughed. “Good to see there's someone with an adventurous spirit among you. Now, all abooooard!”

He began to rise slowly into the air. Alfie finally decided that the bear couldn't be that dangerous if Orin had kept him in the castle. He took a deep breath and hopped on, closely followed by the twins.

“You'd better hold tight – I haven't done this in a while!”

Alfie clutched the bear's fur as he hovered three feet off the ground and rotated to face the window. A warm wind seemed to build up around them as the rug rippled in the air.

“Everybody ready? Everybody steady?” asked the bear. Madeleine launched herself forwards, wrapping her arms tightly around the bear's neck as he roared,

“Here … we … GO!”

With that, they shot out of the window, swooping over the rooftops of the castle and into the night sky. Alfie laughed with excitement and fear, his stomach turning somersaults as the ground dropped away beneath them. The twins whooped and screamed beside him as they all gripped on tightly. Alfie felt as though they were on the strangest roller coaster in the world. With a roar the bear picked up speed, circling the castle one last time before heading east towards the coast.

“I thought we'd take in a sea breeze on the way down. I'd like to blast away some of my cobwebs.”

Within minutes the patchwork of fields beneath them disappeared and the bear turned south over the North Sea. They lay on their stomachs peering through the thin clouds that whizzed by below them. Alfie could just make out the distant lights of ships sailing far below them.

“We're going very fast,” said Robin. “Why aren't we getting blown about by the wind?”

“Magic!” replied the bear, turning its head. “Reach out your hand and you'll see what I mean.”

They stretched their arms out over the edge of the rug. Alfie felt the wind rushing past his fingers – the further he reached, the stronger and faster the wind seemed to be. He tucked his hand into his armpit to warm it back up. It was like being inside their own warm little bubble.

Every now and then, plane lights blinked in the distance. As they drew close to one, Alfie could make out all the little windows along the sides. Some were lit up and he could see passengers dozing or reading inside.
What a boring way to travel
, he thought with a grin.

“Lady and gentlemen, we are beginning our descent into the city of London,” announced the bear.

“Already?” said Madeleine.

Alfie leaned over the side of the rug to see the city lights twinkling up at him. His heart leapt into his mouth as they swooped over the huge dome of St Paul's Cathedral and down to skim the River Thames.

“Ooh, this is all new,” said the bear as they flew under Tower Bridge then looped back over the top before slowing to follow the curve of the river.

“You've been here before?” asked Alfie.

“Not since the fire. They didn't do too bad a job on the rebuild. Although
that
seems to have moved a bit.” He pointed a claw towards the modern reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe.

“You mean the Great Fire?” asked Robin. “That was in 1666! How old are you?”

“There's Big Ben!” Alfie interrupted as the brightly lit Palace of Westminster and its famous clock tower loomed up on their right. “Can you take us to the top?”

“The very top?” asked the bear gliding up towards the spiky spire that topped the tower.

“Nooo!” they all called at once.

“How about there?” Madeleine pointed to the balcony that ran around the edge of the uppermost roof. “Holly came here with her mum last year on a special tour. She had her picture taken inside the clock bit. Wait till I tell her I went up even higher!”

“As if she'd believe you,” said Robin as the bear landed gently on the balcony.

Alfie felt as though he was still moving as he stepped shakily off the rug and looked down through the railings towards the ground. “Wow, I didn't realize it was this high.”

“It's nearly a hundred metres tall and over one hundred and fifty years old,” said Madeleine with authority. “Holly told me. She knows loads about Big Ben now.”

Robin snorted. “Really? She doesn't even know that it's not called Big Ben. That's the name of the bell, not the tower.”

Alfie tuned out the twins squabbling as he enjoyed the view. Although it was a warm evening, there was a light mist in the air. He enjoyed its cooling embrace as he leant against the railings and gazed across the Thames.

“That's the London Eye,” said Madeleine, popping her head over his shoulder. “Holly went on that too.”

“Who cares?” shouted an exasperated Robin.

Alfie slipped away as the twins began arguing about the direction in which Buckingham Palace lay. Wandering back to the spot where they had left the bearskin rug, he was met with a bizarre sight. It appeared that the bear had decided to dust himself off completely and was flying around the tower, twisting, turning and looping the loop. Little clouds of dust and hair were left behind as he flipped from one spot to another. Alfie spotted a pedestrian far below who had stopped walking and was trying to make out the strange shape flapping around far above him. Alfie laughed as he imagined tomorrow's headlines:
BIG
BEN
'
S
BRUSH
WITH
GIANT
BAT
. The bear finished shaking himself down and began to chase the moths flitting around the illuminated clock face. Alfie gave a loud whistle.

“Hey! Do you want everyone in the city to see you?”

The bear grinned and floated over to him.

“How do I look?” he asked proudly as Madeleine skipped towards them.

“Very handsome,” she laughed. “Next time I'll bring a comb to brush your fur.”

“Maybe you should try using one yourself,” quipped Robin to a black look from Madeleine.

The take-off was gentler this time as the bear floated vertically into the air. Soon they were level with the spire at the very top of the tower. Alfie reached out and touched one of the six golden flowers around the orb at the top, wondering if anyone else had seen them this close in the last one hundred and fifty years. He pulled a silly face as Robin held his camera at arm's length and snapped a picture of the group.

“So how come you're a rug?” asked Madeleine, lying on her stomach and scratching behind the bear's ears as they sailed home through the clouds. “Did someone kill you?”

“Maddie!” hissed Robin “You're being rude!”

“Not at all,” chuckled the bear. “I can't remember much about it. Orin told me I had been killed by a hunter who turned my skin into this rug.”

“That's horrible,” said Madeleine as she stroked his head.

“So how come you can fly and talk?” asked Alfie, thinking how wonderful it was to know a flying carpet that he could actually hold a conversation with.

“Orin used his magic on me. He could tell that my spirit was still in my body and wanted to help me speak and travel. I don't know how I understand humans though. Maybe all bears do but can't talk back? I was his friend for many years and went with him on his travels. When he left, he told me to sleep and wait for you.”

“So Orin didn't die here?” said Alfie, surprised to hear that the druid had left the castle empty.

“Oh, no, he didn't die here.” The bear gave an amused smile but didn't say anything else.

“Do you have a name?” asked Alfie, suddenly embarrassed that he hadn't thought to ask sooner.

“Orin named me Artan. It means little bear.”

“Artan… A lovely name for a lovely bear,” said Madeleine sleepily as she rested on top of his fuzzy head.

“Ah, that cheers me up, lass. I've been feeling a bit flat lately.” They all groaned, the rug rippling beneath them as Artan chuckled at his own joke.

“Now approaching Hexbridge,” he called after a few minutes.

The words were barely out of his mouth when a large shape shot out of the mist in front of them. It flew over the tops of their heads creating a gust of wind that sent Artan whirling.

“Hold on!” shouted the bear as he fought to regain control.

“What was that?” yelled Alfie, straining to make out the shape in the mist. It had turned around and was headed straight back in their direction at some speed.

“Whatever it is, it's trying to knock us out of the sky!” called Artan. “It's coming at us again. Hold on tight, I'm going to try some special manoeuvres!”

Alfie and Robin flung themselves forward and gripped the rug on either side of Madeleine as the huge dark shape hurtled towards them. Just before it hit, Artan whipped himself aside like a bullfighter's cloak. Alfie barely held on as they dangled in mid-air for a split second before flopping back on to the rug as it righted itself.

“Everyone still on-board?”

“Just about,” shouted Alfie, wriggling away from the edge.

“It's coming about again. I'll try to lose it in the clouds.”

Alfie dug his fingers into the bear's thick fur and squeezed tightly, and Madeleine and Robin did the same as the bear started his sharp climb into the mist. The dark shape seemed to be picking up speed again as it followed their ascent.