The Golden Acorn - Catherine Cooper [83]
They landed on the ground behind the office buildings. The street was deserted. In the distance Jack could hear the Prefect’s loud voice. They touched foreheads. The blinding light still penetrated Jack’s eyes even though he’d had them tightly closed. When he opened them he’d transformed, the only problem was that he was naked.
‘Oh!’ he moaned. ‘I’d forgotten about this part of the transformation.’
Jack carefully made his way to the end of the first building. He was glad it was June and not the middle of winter; even so, it was cool in the shade. He was shaking but that was probably because he was afraid rather than cold. His first priority was to find something to wear. His feet hurt from the gravel on the road but he doubted he’d be able to find any shoes to fit. He could still hear Maximus shouting orders but now he’d transformed he couldn’t understand what he was saying.
He hadn’t thought what he’d do if the door was locked. Luckily it wasn’t. He slipped in through the doorway and looked around for something to put on. The room was lighter than he’d anticipated. All the walls were white; the one without a window was decorated with a battle scene. There was a large table, its legs carved in the shape of lion’s feet, with matching chairs. A long reclining seat under the painted wall had a brown woollen blanket draped over the back. He grabbed it and wrapped it around his shoulders. His feet were freezing on the cobbled floor. Jack went and stood on the rug in the middle of the room while he looked around. Near the table was a large basket full to the brim with metal objects. On the top were two large bronze plates. He grabbed them, quickly looked outside to see if it was safe to go, and then made his way back to the place where he’d transformed.
‘Camelin,’ he whispered, ‘I’ve got them.’
Camelin swooped down.
‘Look, I’ve got them,’ Jack said triumphantly.
‘Those aren’t the ones.’
‘They’re not!’ exclaimed Jack in disbelief as he examined them closely.
They were made of bronze and looked about the right shape and size. One plate was decorated with a man sitting cross-legged holding a snake, and the other had some kind of four-legged animal. To his horror Jack realised his mistake; not only were the pictures wrong, they didn’t have any holes in the sides either. Nora had shown him three of the plates and he’d been told they would all be embossed with a tree. He’d even been told about the cauldron’s construction. Nora said she laced the plates together using leather thongs. He should have looked more closely at the plates and made sure they were the right ones.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Jack. ‘I didn’t expect there’d be any other cauldron plates in there. I’ll go back and have another look.’
‘Not now you won’t. The Camp Prefect will be on his way back any minute now the briefing’s over.’
‘What shall I do?’ he asked mournfully.
‘The soldiers won’t be back in their barracks for ages. You can go over there and get the third one back. Just remember it’ll be really dull and dirty and have a hawthorn, oak or willow tree embossed on the front.’
‘I’d rather fly over to the barracks, if you don’t mind. These stones are killing my feet; they’re really hard to walk on.’
‘Ready?’ Camelin asked.
‘Yes,’ sighed Jack.
Seconds later he shook the woollen blanket off his back. It dropped and covered the two bronze plates. They were soon flying towards the barracks at the far end of the camp. Each of the long buildings had a covered veranda where, earlier, the soldiers had been cooking their breakfast. They landed and touched foreheads once more. Jack was glad he’d got used to the strange sensation as his body transformed. After the blinding flash he stood naked again. Thankfully no one was about. Camelin looked longingly at the veranda.
‘While you’re inside I might just go and check out that covered area to see if there’s anything left to eat.’
Jack couldn’t believe Camelin was willing to risk being seen for the sake of a few scraps of bacon which might, or might not, have been left.
‘Oh Camelin, I need you to keep a watch