Jack of Ravens(140)

Church didn’t understand what the imp was saying, nor did he know how much he could trust this Robin Goodfellow. There was an old Midlands term – ‘pouk-ledden’ – used to describe how people were spun around, manipulated and misled by the sprite for mischief or spite.

‘A merrier hour was never wasted here, but now the time has come to part our ways. Yet when you least expect it, there I’ll be, more mischief done in future days. Anon. Robin is gone.’

There was no flash or puff of smoke. The Puck was simply there one second, gone the next, and Church was left blinking at the space where he’d been.

Church was still contemplating the tricky creature’s words and the victory that had been achieved that day when Jerzy walked up.

‘Why do you look at me in such a strange manner?’ he asked.

‘I just wanted to check it was really you.’

‘You like your jokes, good friend. As if there could be two such as me!’ Jerzy’s eyes gleamed through the mask.

Church was warmed to see his friend so happily at peace, but he would miss him. ‘You’re definitely staying?’

‘This is my place now, bringing joy and laughter to people who really need me. This is home. But you know the words of the song on everyone’s lips: “We’ll meet again. Don’t know where, don’t know when.” ’ He held out his arms and they hugged before Jerzy pulled back sharply. ‘Church—?’

‘I know, I know!’ Church snapped. ‘I’m going to get a bath!’



8



It was only when he was leaving the Holborn Empire into a night that smelled of smoke and dust that Church realised Robin Goodfellow had played one last trick. The pocket inside his jacket where he had stored his prize was empty. The Anubis Box was gone.





Chapter Ten





THE FINAL WORD





1



Niamh laid out the Tarot cards on the small table next to the roaring fire. Tom watched her intently. From the shadow that crossed her face, he knew the answer before he asked the question. ‘Still nothing?’

‘There is a wall across what lies ahead. Beyond it exists only darkness.’ She turned over another card: the Nine of Ravens. ‘I try to summon the Messengers of Existence, but there are shadow-ripples flowing back from that wall, disrupting my pleas, perverting their answers. Changing everything.’

‘So the powers won’t respond?’

‘They do what they can, but even they are insignificant compared to what lies ahead.’

Tom took out a brown leather pouch and began to roll himself a smoke. ‘And there’s still no little ray of sunshine ahead for you and me?’

Niamh shook her head gravely. ‘Our time is nearly done. Soon we will make our choices to shuffle off the board.’

Tom nodded as he crimped the paper and took out his flint. ‘That’s what I see. That’s what I’ve always seen. An ending, like a black cloud on the horizon. We go, but the world keeps turning.’

Niamh turned another card: the Lovers. ‘It seems so futile, for even with our sacrifice the wall still stands,’ she said bitterly.

‘No one knows how it all fits together,’ Tom said. ‘Existence is complex and we see only one dog-eared corner of the vast pattern. Through cause and effect, one simple action can change the world.’ He lit his roll-up and inhaled the blue smoke deeply.

‘But it can change,’ she said hopefully. ‘Things can change. Nothing is fixed, anywhere. You know that. Existence is mutable. The structure can be altered by events … or will.’

‘And our friend lies at the heart of that.’

Niamh moved her fingers over the cards. ‘It says here that if he chose me over the Sister of Dragons I would survive—’

‘You are a god and he is a mortal.’ Tom fixed a searching eye on Niamh as she mulled over the cards. ‘One would think it would not be difficult to bring about that end.’

She shook her head sadly. ‘His love would be meaningless if it were forced. I stand or fall by what lies in his heart.’

‘You love him very deeply.’

‘More than I can bring myself to believe. By doing nothing apart from being himself, he has altered my world completely. When I peer into my deepest thoughts I am not the same person I was before I met him. Far from it. He has awakened many great things in my heart, and though I have experienced wish-pain for the first time, I would not have it any other way.’ She smiled sadly. ‘I exist in hope that he will return my love.’

Tom nodded, but could give her no reassurance. ‘And do you see his future in the cards? I fear greatly for what lies ahead for him. I see—’