The Golden Acorn - Catherine Cooper [53]
Nora took a tiny envelope addressed to Chief Knuckle and placed it in front of Timmery.
‘Ready to go?’ she asked him.
The little bat nodded, picked the envelope up in his teeth and flitted out of the kitchen.
‘While Timmery’s gone I’ll make some supper. We’ll eat when he comes back and then prepare to go back down the tunnels. I’d like you to stay here Camelin. If there’s a problem, call Timmery and send him back down the tunnel to find us.’
‘Why do I always miss the good stuff?’ Camelin complained bitterly.
‘This isn’t a game,’ chided Nora.
‘What do you want me to do?’ Jack asked.
‘You can come with us. I’ve got a special job for you to do. You’ll be able to stay in the tunnel while I meet Chief Knuckle and you won’t be seen.’
‘I might as well be in my loft while you’re gone,’ announced Camelin. ‘I can co-ordinate everything from up there and keep a look out at the same time.’
Jack suspected Camelin was secretly pleased he didn’t have to go. He hadn’t been keen to go down the tunnel earlier. ‘Co-ordinate’ probably meant he’d be having a sleep until everyone returned.
Timmery reappeared just as Nora finished laying out the supper. He darted through the kitchen window and attached himself to the front of Nora’s cloak.
‘Chief Knuckle wasn’t pleased but he’s agreed to meet you.’
‘Excellent! Shall we eat? By the time we’ve finished it will be time to go.’
After supper Jack made his way up to the attic where he’d arranged to meet Camelin for his transformation. He could hear Camelin in the loft above but instead of coming down his head appeared at the top of the ladder.
‘Come up here first. I’ve got a surprise for you.’
Jack climbed up and poked his head into the loft.
‘Look, it’s for you!’
Jack looked over to where Camelin was pointing. A beanbag lay next to Camelin’s raven basket.
‘Oh, cool!’
‘Do you like it?’
‘It’s great. Does that mean I can sleep up here with you tonight?’
‘It was Nora’s idea, but it would have been mine if I’d thought of it first. She thinks it would be safer for you and Orin to sleep up here. I can protect you both from trouble. I’m the only one who can do the call of the raven-owl.’
Elan shouted to Jack from the garden. She was waiting to lower him down in the basket. Jack and Camelin touched foreheads and once the transformation was complete Jack waddled back down the ladder, onto the window ledge and into the basket. Once he was on the grass Nora joined them.
‘Ready?’
‘Ready,’ they both replied.
Nora pointed her wand at the prickly bush and a hole, big enough for them all to get through, appeared. Both she and Elan turned around slowly and spiralled down. As they shrank their bodies changed into the silver and chestnut ferrets Jack had seen earlier.
‘I want you to carry this for me Jack. I’m going to need it when we get to the cave,’ Nora said as she pushed her wand towards him with her paw.
Jack picked up the wand in his beak and waddled after them both into the tunnel. They didn’t stop until they reached the entrance to the cave where they’d rescued Orin.
‘You two stay here. I’m going to wait in the chamber for Chief Knuckle,’ Nora whispered.
She stepped into the darkness of the empty cave and shape shifted back into her usual form, then took the wand from Jack’s beak. He was surprised how small Nora looked as she sat hunched on the floor. Jack and Elan crouched in the mouth of the cave so they wouldn’t be seen. They didn’t have long to wait before a strange looking creature stepped out of the far tunnel. He was taller than the other Spriggans Jack had seen. His eyes were so closely set together they almost touched and one was slightly higher than the other. His wide mouth was crooked and full of needle like teeth. His large nose was almost as wide as his mouth.
‘That’s another reason why he’s the Chief,’ Elan whispered to Jack as she nodded at his nose. ‘He’s got the best sniffer.’
Some of the other Spriggans had long noses, some had small, but Chief Knuckle’s was wider and rounder than any of the rest.