The Golden Acorn - Catherine Cooper [4]
‘Yes, that’s probably quite enough for one day. The rash will go completely if you can manage to keep those bandages on for about an hour.’
Jack smiled gratefully.
‘Come on. I’ll show you a short cut home.’
Once more he followed Nora through the vast garden. They didn’t speak until they were opposite the statues.
‘Do you like them?’ Nora asked.
Jack didn’t know what to say. The statues were pure white. They were all of women in flowing robes. He looked harder at the one nearest the path. She had a lovely face and slightly pointed ears.
‘They look sad,’ he replied.
‘They’re nymphs,’ explained Nora.
‘Like Echo and Daphne?’
‘You know about nymphs?’
‘My mum told me about Echo and Narcissus and how Daphne got transformed into a Laurel tree. They were two of her favourite stories.’
Jack swallowed hard and fought back the tears. Nora gave him a kindly smile.
‘We’ll talk about nymphs another day. Come on, not far now.’
Eventually they stopped in front of a large overgrown hedge. He thought he heard Nora whisper something before she bent down and pointed towards the thick branches. A small gap had appeared. Jack wasn’t sure it had been there before.
She turned and whispered in Jack’s ear.
‘Follow the pathway through the yew trees and you’ll arrive at your Grandad’s garden. Whenever you want to visit, come back the same way. I’ll look forward to seeing you again.’
Jack stepped through the arched gap into a tunnel. The narrow pathway snaked away into the distance through the dense trees. The yews’ fine needle-like leaves seemed to quiver as he brushed them with his arm. He turned round to say goodbye but Nora had gone. He couldn’t even see the hole anymore. There was nothing else to do but follow the path.
It wasn’t long before he came to another gap. He stepped out into the sunshine at the bottom of his Grandad’s garden. Jack wasn’t sure he’d be going back through the trees again to Nora’s in a hurry. Even if he wanted to he’d probably never find the way in again. The yew trees were so tightly packed together that as if by magic the path he’d come along seemed to have completely disappeared.
Jack sighed as he made his way towards the house. He wasn’t looking forward to spending the rest of his life living here. He’d gone out to try and have a game of football and ended up spending the afternoon with an old woman. She’d been kind but there was something strange about her. He’d never met anyone like her before.
After his narrow escape from the boys, he was reluctant to go back to the field. His Grandad wasn’t expecting him back for a while. It would be better if he didn’t have to explain why his hands were bandaged. He decided to go back to the lane and try the other direction.
The hedgerows were thick and high on either side of the single track. It was impossible to see through them. The earthy smell of newly turned soil meant his Grandad’s vegetable plot was on the other side of the hedge. He could hear him whistling somewhere in the distance. It was hot and stuffy in the lane and Jack wished he’d brought a drink with him. A slight rustling from behind made him turn quickly. He thought he saw someone duck back behind one of the trees. Was it one of the boys from the field? Jack felt uneasy. The air was still. He got ready to run. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea after all. Perhaps all the boys were behind the trees waiting to jump out at him. He stood still, undecided what to do. Should he carry on or go back to the safety of the garden? Was his imagination playing a trick on him? There might not be anything behind the tree at all. The only way to find out would be to go and have a look but Jack didn’t feel brave enough to do that. He decided to go back to the house. As he turned he felt a sharp blow on the back of his head.
‘Ow!’
Something hard had hit him and bounced off into the grass. Jack rubbed his head. He span around expecting to see the jeering faces of the boys from the field but the lane was empty. What could have hit him so hard, and who could have thrown it? There