The Golden Acorn - Catherine Cooper [36]
‘That’s fine,’ said Nora. ‘We’ll see you later.’
Once they were in the loft Camelin shuffled to the far corner and brought the bottom of the old pizza box over to Jack. He’d neatly pecked it away from the lid. There were bits of tomato smeared on it and what could once have been a mushroom. Camelin flipped it over and looked at Jack.
‘I want you to make me a sign. It’s got to say keep out. I don’t want Nora or Elan coming up. I’ve been practicing my letters and I don’t want them to find out.’
Camelin went back for the lid and showed Jack what he’d done. There were three wobbly pictures of a jelly, a pie and a long stick.
‘What is it?’
‘It’s you… j for jelly, a for apple pie and k for kebab.’
‘But you’ve drawn a stick!’
‘I copied it from this one,’ replied Camelin as he rummaged around and triumphantly produced a grubby bamboo skewer. ‘I only keep this bit. I eat the rest.’
Jack wanted to laugh but Camelin was being very serious.
‘You need a cake in there too, like this.’
Jack drew the cake in between the apple and the kebab stick and wrote the letters of his name underneath.
‘Will you make my sign?’
‘Not a problem, but we’ll need two holes at the top and some string to put through the holes so I can hang it up.’
Camelin swiftly stood on the lid and used the end of his beak to make two holes, one quite a lot bigger than the other. He skipped off into the corner again to look for some string, whilst Jack took the pencil Camelin had left him and wrote in large capital letters…
KEEP OUT
‘That’s great. You can put it up on your way out and I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ve got things to do.’
‘Things?’
‘I’ve got to look my best for the party. Got some serious preening to do and all my claws to clean. No time to chat today.’
‘See you tomorrow then,’ said Jack as he hung the sign in the middle of the ladder where it couldn’t be missed.
Nora and Elan seemed surprised when he came back to the kitchen alone.
‘Camelin’s got things to do,’ explained Jack. ‘Grooming I think.’
‘He’s so vain,’ said Elan. ‘He’s always looking at himself in the mirror.’
‘He told me how he’d got his scar yesterday.’
‘That’s good,’ said Nora and nodded. ‘That means he trusts you.’
‘Do you mind if I go now? I’ve sort of got some things I need to do before tomorrow too.’
‘Not at all. We’ll see you here about 6 o’clock.’
‘I’ve got to come to the front door, Grandad said.’
‘I’m sure Camelin will keep a lookout for you. We’ll see you tomorrow. I think we’ve all got things we need to do,’ smiled Nora.
Jack made his way down to the bottom of the garden. He looked to see if anyone was watching. Instead of going through the gap in the hedge he went and stood in front of the yews. He took his wand out of his bag and held it firmly. Once the rough bark had become smooth he stood very still and concentrated. He willed the yews to open. Nothing happened. He held the wand higher and took a deep breath.
‘Open,’ he commanded.
The yews remained closed. Maybe he ought to raise both hands as Nora had done. He was about to try when some of the branches parted. A small nut-brown face shook its head.
‘You can’t come through without permission.’
‘I wanted to see Arrana. I mean, Arrana the Wise, Protector and Most Sacred of All.’
‘You still need permission and you’re going to have to wait until I get an answer. It’s already been sent. Please wait.’
The head disappeared and Jack realised he was still standing with his wand in mid-air. He busied himself and put his backpack on but kept the wand out in case the yews opened. It wasn’t long before he saw the message returning. It came rustling through the trees and stopped at the great yews in front of him. The head reappeared.
‘Follow me.’
As Jack stepped forward the trees creaked and groaned. They only parted slightly, just enough for Jack to step onto the path. Once he was through they closed behind him. He looked around to find out whose face he’d seen. Behind the first tree was