An Army of Good (4 page)

“Flippin' heck, she must be the most beautiful girl in the whole of the world!” Christian declared, as he watched Lettitia wading out of the sea. She was sweeping her wet blonde hair back off her tanned face with one hand, while the other was held out behind her, fingers gently running through the glistening water as if she were trying to pull the ocean ashore with her.

“Yes, I think she probably is,” Grace agreed, as she and Christian looked out over the beach from the swinging chair on the veranda. “And have you noticed her eyes? They are the same colour as the water.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Christian grinned.

“So Grace, what do you think about having to select more Humans to come into Liberty? Do you know who you're gonna choose yet?” he asked.

“Well, Zavier said we have to choose very carefully, and we have to ensure that we only pick good, kind people.”

“Yeah, I know. Well your family are good and kind, and so are mine, so we should definitely pick them.”

“Yes, I agree. What about Henrietta, though? I don't think I should pick her. She's spiteful, but she is family.” Grace shrugged.

“Well, I know she pulled the head off your doll, but that was ages ago. And she did share her sweets with me once, so maybe she's not all bad. Don't forget, Zavier did say we need as many people as possible, didn't he? Maybe we should give her a chance.”

“Yeah, I s'pose.” Grace sighed unconvinced. “Okay then, so we pick both our families. Who else?”

“Paul from across the close. He manages my football team. He said I could probably make it as a professional footballer when I'm older. He's good and kind, and he's well strong.”

“Is he the big man from number one who's covered in tattoos, the one that sells poppies for the soldiers and their families on Remembrance Day? My mum calls him Poppy Paul.”

“Yeah that's the one. My mum calls him Poppy Paul too,” Chris laughed.

“Okay, we'll pick him, and maybe some of the rest of our close.”

“What, even Elsie?”

“Yeah, definitely Elsie, she's the kindest person I know!”

“Yeah, and the oldest. I don't think she'll be very good at fighting the Nomeds, do you?”

“You didn't see her out in her garden, waving her walking stick at the fox that tried to get at DD. She looked pretty fierce then. Who'd of thought an old lady would get so angry and go all ninja to protect her pet rabbit?” Grace laughed.

Ice flew onto the veranda and perched on the wooden balustrade.

“What are you two giggling about?” she asked.

“We've been choosing good people to come here and help us fight the Nomeds.”

“My mum and dad, they're good,” Chris said.

“Yep, and we've chosen my mum and dad, my brothers, Poppy Paul and Elsie.”

“Slow down Grace, I can only gather four Humans at a time. Four is the maximum amount of people I can use the cloning enchantment on. So let's just start with four and go from there, okay?”

“Oh, that's easy then we'll start with my mum, dad, Dan and Harry, that's four,” Grace said, grinning. She swung her legs harder, making the chair swing faster, as she thought happily about seeing her family again.

* * *

Zavier was down on the beach chatting with Lettitia.

“Lettitia, I know you've just finished your swim, but could you go back out there for me and find Mateo? Ask him to tell Pelagia that he is required to come ashore tomorrow morning. Ezekiel should be back by then, along with Aurora and Takoda. I want all of the Berthold at the beach house when Ice and I arrive back with the next gathering of Humans.”

“Sure,” Lettitia replied, needing no excuse for another swim. She waded back out into the ocean, and dived in, gracefully slipping under its surface without creating so much as a ripple.

* * *

“Why can you only do the cloning enchantment on four at a time?” Grace asked, bringing the swinging chair to a halt and planting her feet firmly on the decked veranda.

“Well, it's because of what I need to do in order to perform the enchantment.”

“What do you need to do?”

“Do you remember that night in your garden when we met? Before we left for Liberty and I had to clone you both, I plucked a hair from each of you?”

“Yeah,” Grace and Chris replied.

“That's because I needed something that contained your DNA and the root of your hair contains DNA. And do you know that owls produce pellets after a meal?”

“Ughh, yeah, I was watching a wildlife programme with my mum and dad once, it showed an owl hoicking up a revolting looking mush of fur, bone and stuff. Ughh!” Chris shuddered.

“Well, I need to use a special kind of pellet that I mix with the hair, skin, scale, or feather of whatever is being cloned; and then, I plant it.”

“Plant it!” Grace and Chris guffawed.

“Yes, I plant it like a seed, and a clone grows just like a flower, but much quicker.”

“So what makes the pellet special? And I still don't understand why you can only do four clonings at a time,” Grace said, baffled.

“The pellets have to be special regeneration pellets. I can produce these only after I have fed from a starfish.”

Grace gasped in horror at the thought of Ice eating one of the beautiful, glowing sea creatures.

“It's okay, Grace, I don't harm them. Starfish don't possess the same nervous system that we do and therefore they don't experience pain in the same way as us. They also have the ability to re-grow. So you see, I simply peck off one of their arms, and
voilà
, they grow a new one.”

“You owls are sooo disgusting!” Chris said, screwing up his face.

“It was lucky that on the day the Great Prophet told us we would need to collect you, as soon as I could, I ate a starfish arm in preparation, or we wouldn't have been able to clone you, and your poor families would be frantic with worry. Anyway, several hours after the starfish meal, a regeneration pellet is produced. I can re-eat these pellets, and then use them when needed, but there's only enough in one pellet to create around four clones, so that is why we can only collect four Humans at a time.”

“But what about Francis? He's an owl too. He could eat a starfish arm as well, produce a pellet, and then you could create eight,” Grace declared.

“That is very true, Grace, but Francis has returned home to the Giant Horse Chestnut in Bluebell Wood for a while. He will come back here tomorrow, but there is absolutely no way Zavier's going to want three of the Berthold absent from Liberty at the same time. I know the Nomeds are inactive at the moment, but having three of the Berthold away at once might just be an open invitation for them to reappear, and we don't want that now, do we?”

“We certainly do not. I haven't learnt how to fight against them yet,” Chris asserted.

“Well, we best get practising then!” Grace shouted, and she pulled Chris off the chair and onto the floor, jumping on him and waving her arms in the air while pulling the strangest of faces, as she tried to impersonate a Nomed.

Grace and Christian had reversed rolls in Liberty. Chris was normally the tougher of the two, a typical boy, always fighting; but here he was timid, insecure and afraid. Grace, on the other hand, had a new-found confidence. She was stronger, braver. She pinned Chris to the deck by his arms and pretended to eat him while making growling sounds.

The children continued to roll around on the veranda in a fit of playful laughter.

If only it really were that much fun to fight with the Nomeds,
Ice thought as she looked down at the gleeful pair. She closed her eyes and sighed, a deep and sorrowful sigh. She realised the innocent children still had no idea what atrocious horrors lay ahead of them.

* * *

The next morning, as the sun began its ascent in the east, painting the ocean a rich shade of burnt orange, Ice swooped down from the beach house, soared across the calm sea and plucked a starfish from the shallows, sending ripples across the water that gave the ocean the shimmering appearance of a gently glowing fire. Ice flew to some rocks, where she placed the starfish down and began to peck off a small piece from one of its arms. She stretched her head toward the warmth of the rising sun, closed her eyes and gulped, swallowing her starfish breakfast. Once she had consumed enough of the marine animal for the cloning enchantment, she spread her wings, taking flight, and dropped the starfish back into the glistening water. Zavier was waiting for her by the estuary bridge. She dived down, grasped his silver mane with her beak and talons, and they headed off into the new dawn; off to the Human world, for the cloning and collection of the first four… the collection of Grace's family.

Droplets of water rained down on Zavier from the trees overhead. They covered his silver coat and glistened in the sun, giving the impression that he'd been sprinkled with a dusting of diamonds. The last remains of the snow were melting in Witern Wood, unveiling the grey and brown colours of winter. Fallen leaves that would normally have crunched underfoot were moistened by the melt and they stuck to Zavier's hooves in clumps, quietening his approach as he navigated his way through the tree-lined pathways toward Grace's back gate.

When Zavier and Ice arrived, they could hear muffled voices, and the sound of wood being hammered. The noise was coming from Grace's garden. Unsure of who it was that was making the noises, Zavier and Ice hung back, hiding behind the foliage of an evergreen bush.

“Bloody hooligans! Just you wait till I get my hands on the idiots that did this. Mindless vandalism, that's what it is. Well, I tell you what, when I find out who decided it would be fun to smash up my fence, I'll be sending them the bill for the new panel, and I'll be giving them a piece of my mind to boot!” Evan grumbled furiously as he nailed the panel secure.

“I know, darling, but it's not worth getting upset over. I don't know who'd have done such a thing, and it's completely beyond me how not even one person that was at the party knows anything about it. Anyway, like I say,” Mary said, rubbing Evan's shoulder sympathetically, “it's not worth getting upset over. Come on in and I'll make you a nice cuppa and a bacon sarnie.”

“Okay, thanks love,” Evan sighed, “I'll just pack my tools away, be there in a second.”

“Mum, Dad, I'm going to Elsie's now,” Grace's clone yelled from the back door.

“Okay, sweetheart,” Mary replied as she walked back down the garden toward the house.

Zavier and Ice looked at each other, silently acknowledging that the man and woman's voices were indeed those of Grace's parents, and that now was the right time to make their move.

“Don't you think it would be best if you changed into your Human form for this?” Ice whispered.

“Probably yes, but I forgot to bring any clothes with me,” Zavier whispered. “I'm trying to decide which will be the least shocking for them, a talking horse, or a naked man wandering into their garden from the woods?”

Ice widened her eyes in agreement, “Well, I think maybe you should go for the talking horse. You never know, it might just be the kind of shock that they need in order to believe what we're about to tell them. A naked man, on the other hand, will probably result in a phone call to the police!”

“Talking horse it is then,” Zavier affirmed. Then, walking forwards, he hung his head over the Darlings' back gate and emitted a soft nicker.

“Whoa, where on earth did you come from?” Evan exclaimed in astonishment, looking up from his tool box in awe at the huge Shire horse's head that was peering over his gate.

“I've come from Liberty especially to meet with you and your family, sir. It is very important that I speak with you, your dear wife, and your children – except for Grace that is; we're already very well acquainted.”

Evan's mouth remained open for a few seconds before he closed it. His mind attempted to speak, but when he opened his mouth again the ability to talk failed him, quite unlike Zavier, who was merrily chatting away over the garden gate.

“I know this is all a bit of a shock, but it really is important. May I come in?” Zavier asked, nodding his head toward the bolt on the gate.

Evan, still gaping, slid the bolt across, opened the gate, and stood aside, all without saying a word.

“Thank you, sir,” Zavier said, as he strode into the garden and made his way down the lawn toward the house.

Evan, still shocked, shuddered with disbelief and hurried after Zavier. He opened the back door and asked Zavier to, “Wait right there!”

Mary was frying the bacon. Catching a whiff of the rashers sizzling in the pan, Dan and Harry had dragged themselves out of bed and followed their noses to the kitchen table, where they were now sitting, eagerly awaiting the soft doorstep bread, filled with hot bacon bathed in melting butter.

“Outside… err… outside… come… come outside!” Evan blurted out, and then he swung himself round and staggered back out of the house.

“What's up with him?” Dan asked, raising his eyes at Harry.

“I have no idea,” Harry replied, his chair scraping against the tiled floor as he pushed it back and left the table to go and find out.

Mary switched off the hob. “Chyna, Womble, stay!” she commanded. The dogs were hovering around the bacon scent with their noses in the air, and they happily stayed put.

Mary hurried behind the boys. They rushed out of the back door, gathered on the patio and stood beside Evan. Once outside, Harry had an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu.

“It's you, you are real!” he said, astonished.

“Ah yes. Hello, young sir, we met the night that I came to take Grace to Liberty, didn't we?” Zavier replied.

“I told you the flippin' horse could talk, didn't I? Didn't I!” Harry said, smacking Dan's arm gloatingly, while feeling a mixture of relief that he hadn't lost his marbles the night of the party when he had first seen Zavier, and dumbfoundedness that there really was such a thing as a talking horse.

Mary, Dan and Evan had no such feelings of gloating or relief. Theirs were simply of pure and utter shock.

“Grace and Christian are both very well. They love the beach, and they have made many new friends. Grace is extremely excited to be seeing you all soon.”

“Grace isn't at any beach! She's next door at Elsie's!” Mary snapped, flustered and wondering what the hell was going on.

Ice peered round from where she'd been sitting unnoticed between Zavier's broad shoulders. “I think we need to tell you why we are here, and explain to you about the cloning,” she said.

The shock of meeting Zavier, and now a talking snowy owl, was all too much for Mary. As reality slipped away from her, so did her consciousness and she crumpled to the ground as if she were a puppet that had just had its strings cut.

* * *

“It's okay Mary, you fainted. You're all right, don't worry, I've got you,” Evan said reassuringly, as he cradled his wife's head in his lap and stroked her long blonde hair.

Mary pushed her elbow into the sofa and sat herself up. “The horse?” she groaned, rubbing her forehead with her hand.

“It's okay, Mary, we will explain everything in a second,” Evan said.

“We will?” Mary puzzled, and then she spotted the breathtakingly handsome man that was sitting across from her in Evan's armchair.

“Who are you and why are you wearing Evan's clothes?” she asked.

The man leaned forward, smoothing back his silver grey hair with his hand. Mary looked straight into his eyes, mesmerised by how ridiculously handsome he was. She felt herself melting into him.
He looks just like a movie star,
she thought dreamily.

“I am ‘
the horse
' I am Zavier,” the man replied. “Let me explain what I am, where I am from and, most importantly, why I am here,” he said, taking hold of Mary's hand.

Mary, Evan, Harry and Dan listened to Zavier's condensed explanation. They were absorbing the whole strange situation, when the lounge door was suddenly flung open.

“I'm back!” Grace shouted.

“But she's
sooo
real,” Mary cried, looking at the clone of her daughter.

“What's wrong with Mum, and who's that man?” Grace asked, looking over at Zavier.

Ice had been perched on the back of Zavier's chair. Knowing that this was her time to intervene, she flew across the room and landed on the carpet in front of Grace.

“It's okay, child, I am your creator. Now go about your business as if we were not here,” Ice chanted calmingly.

Grace's eyes glazed over. “As you wish,” she droned robotically. Then she left the room and ran upstairs to play.

Mary wiped the tears from her face and inhaled deeply through her nose. “I want to go now! Take me to my daughter now! I need to be with her!” she pleaded.

“First we must clone you. It's a fairly simple enchantment that shouldn't take too long, but you will need to come outside,” Ice said.

Mary looked lovingly at her husband and sons. “Come on, let's do this, Grace needs us,” she said, and she made her way back outside.

Ice stood on the patio in front of Harry, who was rubbing his head soothingly where she had just plucked out one of his hairs. Then she began to retch, opening and closing her beak a little, and then she leant forward, opening her mouth as wide as it would go and regurgitated a rat-sized pellet.

“Niiice!” Dan applauded, nodding his head in strange approval of the mushy mass.

Ice pecked off approximately a quarter of the pellet, then looked up at Harry as he towered over her, and decided she better peck off a little more. She took the piece of pellet over to where she'd placed Harry's hair and began to mix the two together with her beak. When the two were adequately intertwined, she carried them in her mouth over to a flower border, dug a small hole with her beak and planted them, before chanting these words:

“Substance of Human and substance of Asteroidean, mixed together in earth, shall produce the wonder of birth!”

The mud above the planted pellet began to churn and bubble up, forming a mole-hill-like mound, from which a duplicate of Harry rapidly emerged. The clone sprouted out of the earth as if it were a sunflower growing a thousand times faster than its normal rate.

“Whoa, wicked!” the boys chorused, laughing and snapping their fingers.

The clone shook off the mud and moved toward Harry. Harry and his double stood toe to toe.

“Go inside and go about your business as normal,” Ice commanded, and the clone of Harry went into the house.

“So how do you know which one of me is the real me? Don't you get muddled up at all? I mean that clone is my identical twin.”

“I never get muddled up. As their creator, I can tell them apart instantly, but for others it is much more difficult. The only way that you would be able to distinguish between them is by the sign of a clone.”

“Okay, so what is the ‘
sign
' of a clone then?”

“The sign is a regeneration mark, a small baptismal cross that is situated on the nape of the neck. It is a little easier to see on Humans as it is sometimes only partially covered by their hair, but on other creatures – for example, if I were to clone myself – it would be much more difficult to spot the mark under my feathers.”

“Okay, okay, I don't mean to be rude, but I really would like to go and see my daughter now,” Mary said, with real desperation in her voice.

“Of course you would. Ice, please continue with the cloning as quickly as you can. I'll go into the woodland to transform. I'll wait for you there,” Zavier said.

Ice completed the cloning of the Darlings, and then they made their way to the woods where Zavier was waiting. Zavier no longer required Evan's clothes and had strewn them across the newly erected fence panel. Mary looked at the jeans and t-shirt as she approached the gate at the bottom of the garden and realised something important.

“I haven't packed anything! Do I need to bring anything?” Womble stood inside the kitchen at the patio doors, barking in frustration as he watched his family exiting through the gate.

“And the dogs, oh my goodness, I forgot about the dogs!” Mary panicked.

“My baby!” Evan cried, suddenly realising that he was leaving his beloved little black pug-dog behind.

“Don't worry about the dogs, they will be very well looked after by your clones. They will be absolutely fine, and there is no need to pack, we have everything that you need at the beach house,” Ice reassured.

Mary grasped Evan's arm and pulled him through the gate. As Evan turned to pull the gate shut behind him, he spotted his clone. The clone was bent down beside Womble and was giving the bulldog a reassuring pat. In his other arm he held Chyna the pug, who was affectionately licking at his face. Evan closed the gate behind him, knowing that the dogs were indeed going to be extremely well cared for.