Page 114 of Destiny of the Witch

‘Nope. If it had been just a bit wider I’d have started calling you Cruella de Vil.’

Wulfram!’ Romy reproved. ‘The glee in your voice is, in my opinion, quite unbecoming for the Great Guardian.’

Blaise burst out laughing. ‘I don’t know how you’ve got the cheek to criticise me, standing there looking like a third-rate Brian May impersonator.’

I tossed my brown curls and pouted. ‘How dare you? I think I look stunning.’

‘All right, girls,’ Romy said, grinning. ‘Now we’re all awake what do we do next? We need to get out of here, fast, because if we don’t there might be awkward questions about why none of us touched our stew, and we’ll have to think of a reason why we don’t want any breakfast. Because we don’t, do we?’

Blaise and I instantly shook our heads, in complete agreement that we didn’t.

I strode over to the window and gazed outside. ‘Still too dark to make out whether the island’s here or not.’ I groaned. ‘I’m starving. Those chocolate biscuits didn’t do a lot to fill me up.’

‘If we leave here,’ Blaise said quietly, ‘we can go somewhere out of the way, and I’ll manifest us all a bacon sandwich. How does that sound?’

‘Seriously?’ I asked, my stomach rumbling at the thought of it. ‘You think you can do it?’

‘I know it’s been four years since I last had you-know-what,’ he whispered, ‘but I’m pretty sure a bacon sandwich is within my capabilities, whether I’m out of practice or not.’

‘What are we waiting for?’ Romy was already on her feet, and I rubbed my hands together in glee.

There was a tap on the door, and we all stared at each other in dismay.

‘What time will you be wanting breakfast, sir?’

I opened the door and Annie started in shock.

‘Oh. I thought you were in the other—’ She peered round me and saw Blaise sitting on the floor and Romy standing next to him. Her brow furrowed.

‘Business meeting,’ I explained, smiling. ‘Sorry, Annie, but we won’t be requiring breakfast after all. We have to be somewhere quite urgently.’

She looked suspicious. ‘Oh, all right then. Will you be needing the coach, because—’

‘No, that’s all right,’ Blaise said, getting to his feet. ‘It’s not far. We do appreciate you putting us up at such short notice, though. Thank you for your hospitality.’

‘Fair enough, sir.’ Annie shrugged. ‘If you go downstairs my husband will show you out.’

Frankly, we couldn’t get out of there fast enough, and wondered what Annie would say when she realised we hadn’t touched our stew either. I couldn’t help thinking that, most likely, she’d warm it up for another guest this evening. Maybe she’d done that before. I could only breathe a sigh of relief that we hadn’t touched it ourselves.

Gerrenporth was a hive of activity, even so early in the morning, but we didn’t linger to speak to anyone. Instead, we headed out of the village, following Blaise as he led us into woodland, just as the dawn broke.

‘Where are we going?’ Romy asked breathlessly, clearly struggling to keep up with him as he strode purposefully along a well-worn path.

‘It’s not far,’ he said.

‘What’s not far?’ I asked, trying not to sound too suspicious. ‘Where exactly are you taking us?’

We were going deeper and deeper into the woods, and the path was climbing steeply. Romy admitted she had a stitch, and that she felt a bit shaky. Lack of food and drink, I supposed. I didn’t feel that great myself.

‘Blaise,’ I said sharply, seeing my sister was struggling, ‘tell us where we’re going.’

Blaise turned, looking a bit sheepish. ‘I hope you don’t mind,’ he said. ‘This is Polkayne Woods. It separates Gerrenporth from Polkayne. I thought, while we’re hanging around waiting for the island, we could go to the church there. I’d—I’d quite like to visit my mother’s grave if that’s all right with you. It’s been years. Decades. I never returned to Cornwall after we left here when I was a child. I’d like to pay my respects to her. Is that okay?’

‘Of course it’s okay!’ Romy put her arms around him. ‘What a lovely idea.’

‘In the meantime,’ he added, ‘I thought we could sit on that overturned tree there and have those bacon sandwiches. What do you think?’

My suspicions vanished. ‘Now you’re talking,’ I said eagerly.

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