The Golden Acorn - Catherine Cooper [76]
When everyone had eaten their fill Elan stepped out onto the patio.
‘The light’s fading. Time to go.’
Nora took the golden acorn between her finger and thumb and held it up high so they could all see it.
‘This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for, thanks to Jack.’
Everyone cheered and wished them well. Jack stroked Orin and told her he wouldn’t be gone long, at least he hoped he wouldn’t. On his way up to the loft he took his wand back to his room and put it safely in the spine of his Book of Shadows. He sighed. He felt quite nervous. He had to succeed. This was their only chance.
‘Ready?’ Camelin asked when he was in the loft.
‘Ready,’ Jack replied.
They transformed and made their way to the top of Glasruhen Hill to wait for Nora and Elan to join them.
‘I want you to promise me you’ll come straight back through the window in time if you’re in any danger,’ Nora said to them both once they were all together again at the summit.
‘We’ll stay out of trouble,’ Jack replied.
‘Be careful,’ added Elan.
‘We will,’ Jack and Camelin said together.
Nora patted them both on the head and Elan stroked their sleek, black feathers. They all watched as Nora carefully placed the golden acorn on a bare rock in the exact centre of the hill fort before nodding and taking a deep breath. They took up their positions in the middle of each gateway directly opposite each other, Nora and Camelin at one end, Elan and Jack at the other. They watched and waited as the sun began to sink slowly below the horizon. When the sun had almost disappeared Nora and Elan began the ritual. They recited words Jack didn’t understand, words they’d been waiting to say for such a long time, words to send Jack and Camelin back to the right moment in time. Jack listened to Elan; he could hear Nora’s voice in the distance. Both began quietly, almost whispering, but growing louder and louder as the sun sank lower. The golden acorn began to glow brighter and brighter. When the sun disappeared golden rays of light spread upwards from the ground. Jack could see a shimmer in the sky overhead as the light from the acorn illuminated the thin veil of the window.
It was time to fly. Jack and Camelin took off from the ground, as they’d practised time and time before. They built up speed and rose into the air until at last they were an equal distance from the ground, high above the mid-point. Jack felt the air rushing past his head as he twisted his body; they flew towards each other at speed. In the split second before they flew past each other they pulled their wings in tightly to their bodies. Jack felt the warmth from the golden light of the acorn. He heard Nora calling to them.
‘Take care. Come back safe.’
Then everything went dark. There was a loud crack as they flew into the past.
It was difficult for Jack to reduce his speed. He’d been too busy concentrating on several things at the same time and hadn’t given much thought to what would happen once they’d passed through the window. He finally slowed and turned, then made his way back towards the centre of Glasruhen Hill, dropping in height as he searched the sky for Camelin. He knew they’d made it. Nora and Elan were nowhere to be seen and the top of Glasruhen was no longer deserted. Jack could see fires burning in the distance. The smell of wood smoke also came from various buildings, which were scattered around the summit. Instead of the usual bracing fresh air he so enjoyed every time he’d climbed to the top of the hill, the more unpleasant hint of a farmyard hung heavy in the atmosphere. The acrid smell of burning reminded him of Bonfire Night, only it was the wrong time of the year.
He saw a suitable tree for landing and swooped down. Once he was settled on a branch he looked closer at the scene below. Round houses of various heights and sizes were scattered over the hilltop. Lower down at ground level were more of the same. Apart from areas of dense forest the rest of the