The Golden Acorn - Catherine Cooper [16]
‘Do I have to use the wand?’ asked Jack nervously. He didn’t want any accidents in Grandad’s house.
‘No, it couldn’t be easier,’ continued Nora. ‘Touch your name with your finger and the book will recognise you; ask a question and it will reveal the answer.’
‘If you want to write any secrets down, use the back pages. It will be invisible to anyone who might pick it up,’ added Elan.
‘It’s amazing!’ exclaimed Jack. ‘Thanks!’
He couldn’t wait to try it out. It was going to be better than a laptop. He’d have an email, notebook and search engine, only he was going to be the power source. It still sounded incredible but he’d seen it work. It had really happened and he felt confident he’d be able to do it again when he was back at Grandad’s.
‘Camelin will take you down to the hedge,’ announced Nora.
Jack would rather have gone out of the front door and he suspected Camelin didn’t really want go with him through the garden.
‘Come back tomorrow,’ Nora continued, ‘we’ve got a lot of things to do before you’re going to be ready for the ritual.’
‘Ritual?’
‘We’ll talk about it tomorrow.’
Before Jack could ask anything else Nora and Elan went back into the kitchen leaving him alone in the garden with Camelin.
‘This way,’ Camelin grumped.
Jack’s mind was working overtime as they made their way to the hedge. He was too busy with his own thoughts to worry about speaking to Camelin. He wondered what other surprises were in store for him. Could he be getting himself into something dangerous? Maybe Camelin was right and he wasn’t going to be worthy, or it could all be a dreadful mistake and this prophecy didn’t mean him after all. Perhaps he’d find out more from his Book of Shadows.
‘Here you are,’ croaked Camelin.
‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘Can you bring some cheese with you?’
‘I don’t know if Grandad’s got any cheese.’
Camelin looked disappointed.
‘I’ll see what I can find,’ said Jack kindly.
‘You won’t tell Nora?’
‘No, I promise, but she might find out.’
‘Not if I meet you here tomorrow. I’ve got a safe eating place. It can be our secret.’
Camelin didn’t seem to be as grumpy now he was talking about food.
‘If you haven’t got cheese anything will do, except banana. I don’t like banana.’
‘I won’t forget,’ laughed Jack. ‘Bye.’
Jack wasn’t alone until after dinner. He excused himself, went up to his room and took out his Book of Shadows. He couldn’t decide what to do first, write to Elan or try to find out more information about Annwn. He touched his name with his finger and watched as the silver writing glowed brightly. Without warning the book opened and pages began to flip over, slowly at first, then quicker until the book lay still. Beautiful flowing writing began to appear.
The Law and Annals of Annwn.
Jack plucked up courage to ask about the Otherworld.
‘Where is Annwn?’
Beyond the four Portals of the mortal world.
‘What is my task?’
Jack’s hands trembled. He was scared and fascinated at the same time. The book didn’t answer straight away so he repeated his question.
‘What is my task?’
You must return to the past and find the three missing cauldron plates which were lost. Once the cauldron is remade the ritual can be performed and the Western Portal on Glasruhen Hill can be opened again.
This must be the ritual Nora spoke about.
‘How can I return to the past?’
The answer came straight away.
You must fly.
‘Fly!’
This was the second time he’d heard that word today but before he could ask the book anything else it snapped shut with a resounding thud. Try as he might, Jack couldn’t get the book to open again beyond the first page. He decided to write to Elan.
…I’ve got some answers but I think I’ve broken the book.
I can’t get it to open again.
It wasn’t long before Elan’s reply appeared.
…It won’t be broken. Bring it tomorrow and Nora will answer your question.
Jack lay awake. He kept replaying everything he’d seen and heard again and again. He didn’t know if he wanted the responsibility Arrana had given him. He was worried he would fail. The word fly filled him with