The Dreamsnatcher by Abi Elphinstone (31)

The eyes were orbs – big and round, burning bluer than the sea amid the roots. Two clawed paws jutted out from the chamber wall either side of the wildcat’s head, and beneath them sat Gryff, staring up at Moll with wide yellow-green eyes.

Moll’s breath fluttered. ‘Do – do you think the amulets are inside the wildcat? Are they what’re making the chamber glow?’

Siddy peered closer. ‘But the roots are wrapped round each other thick and fast. You wouldn’t get your hand inside one of those gaps. Not even you, Moll.’ He turned to Oak. ‘You’ll have to cut them—’

Alfie gasped. ‘No, wait! There are letters carved into the root above the wildcat’s head. None of the stags have that. Look – here!’

Moll sprang up on to her tiptoes and scanned the words: ‘It says: EMBUR.’

Siddy shook his head. ‘EMBUR doesn’t sound good – like dismember only shorter.’ He shuddered and looked hopefully towards the exit.

‘We should try mixing the letters up,’ Alfie said. ‘Remember, Moll? That’s what Mellantha did; this might be another clue!’

Moll’s mind raced with letters until they became meaningless squiggles. She shook her head. ‘I’m no witch doctor; I can’t crack it just like that!’

Gryff padded towards Moll and rubbed against her knees. She closed her eyes and tried again. The letters floated before her; she moved them back and forth, arranging them into different places, and then suddenly she opened her eyes.

‘I’ve got two words!’ she cried. Her eyes were sparkling and there was a tremor in her voice. ‘EMBUR backwards – it’s RUB ME!’

Everyone looked at the wildcat made of roots.

‘Rub me?’ Oak murmured.

He ran a hand over the neck of the wildcat. The chamber was silent, as if sucked of air, but nothing happened.

Siddy tilted his head to one side and looked at the creature’s eyes. ‘Maybe you’ve got to do it, Moll,’ he said quietly. ‘Like with the coin in the door. You’re the next Guardian of the Oracle Bones after all.’

Moll lifted her hand and ran it very slowly over the wildcat’s head. Almost immediately, a tingling sensation prickled through her, as if every hair on her body was standing on end. Although the fur had only been carved out of roots, Moll could feel each individual strand beneath her fingers – and it felt soft and warm, like Gryff’s coat.

Gryff curled his tail round her leg and, at that moment, Moll felt more wildcat than girl. As if she and Gryff were linked up in something so tight not even the Bone Murmur could explain it.

She let her fingers slip over the wildcat’s nose and instead of rough tree roots the nose felt warm and alive. The warmth spread through Moll’s body and, for the very first time in her life, she felt as if she was actually holding magic in the palm of her hand. She edged her hand into the fur of the wildcat’s throat.

Then something extraordinary happened. With a loud crunch, one of the wildcat’s front legs moved. Quick as a flash, it clamped down on to Moll’s wrist. Oak, Alfie and Siddy jumped backwards, but Moll didn’t flinch. Neither did Gryff.

The wildcat’s eyes were blazing, then from inside the tree roots there came a voice – deep, soft, like it was part of the tree itself. And Moll recognised the voice. Because it carried with it half-forgotten memories – memories of her beginning.

‘Moll? My darling, Moll,’ it said.

Moll trembled. Could it be?

‘I’m here, Moll. It’s your pa. And I’m here for you. Right here.’

Moll blinked in disbelief.

Again the voice sounded. ‘I’ve missed you, my girl – so much.’

Her pa’s voice was so real she could almost touch it. Moll glanced at Oak who stood beside her, his hands clasped over his mouth.

‘You’re bigger now.’

And Moll could tell that the voice was smiling. Because this was more than just a voice somehow. This was a voice that carried a person with it: a broad-shouldered, strong man with dark hair and a wide smile.

Moll leant hungrily towards the voice. ‘Are – are you real?’ she whispered.

The voice laughed. ‘Real?’

Moll nodded.

‘I’m real, sure enough.’

‘But—’

‘Real isn’t what you see, Moll. It’s what you feel – what you know deep down to be true even though you’ve got no proof.’

An ache swelled inside Moll – part happiness, part terrible loss. ‘Then you must be real,’ she said quietly, ‘because I can feel you.’

The voice was smiling again. She could tell.

‘I’ve never stopped watching over you, Moll. I’ve been in the leaves when you’ve been climbing trees; I’ve been in the river when you’ve been swimming; I’ve been by your side when your sleep’s been troubled.’

Moll willed her voice forward. ‘It was the Shadowmasks who – who took you and Ma away, wasn’t it?’

Her pa’s voice was silent for a second. ‘We knew it would come.’

Moll felt angry tears rising inside her. ‘You knew! And you didn’t stop them?’

‘It was written, Moll – written in the Oracle Bones before we died . . .’

Moll shook her head. ‘The Bone Murmur says nothing about you leaving.’

‘There are two lines missing from the Bone Murmur as you know it, Moll, lost over the years as it passed down through the generations. And it was the missing lines that my dear Olive read in the Oracle Bones. There was a reason she didn’t reveal them:

Here Moll’s pa paused. And then he spoke the missing lines:

Moll’s voice was smaller than a whisper. ‘You knew all along? And there was nothing you could do?’

‘Both your ma and I thought we had more time. We thought we could fight back and find the amulets before the Shadowmasks struck.’

Oak shook his head. ‘You should’ve told me, Ferry. I would’ve helped; I would’ve fought with you and Olive.’

‘We knew it had to be so,’ Ferry replied. ‘The only way the Bone Murmur could go on was for us to die. The old magic had to stir and fight back.’

‘But the message you read in the Oracle Bones,’ Moll said, ‘the one to find the amulets: Dew Hill Maiden. We followed it. We searched for the heart of the forest, for the amulets – and we found you.’

Ferry laughed. ‘When you look for one thing, you often find another.’ He paused. ‘And then you realise it’s the unexpected thing you were looking for all along.’

Moll leant closer to the wildcat so that only her pa could hear. ‘I think I’ve been looking for you all along – even in my dreams I’ve been looking.’

‘I know, my girl.’

‘What happened that night by the river, Ferry?’ Oak asked. ‘There are things we still don’t know.’

‘The Shadowmasks summoned their Soul Splinter and, though it may’ve killed me and Olive, it didn’t splinter our souls like they’d hoped. We believed in the Bone Murmur and we died for it, so our souls fought back and became the very things the Shadowmasks fear and hate. Our souls became the Amulets of Truth.’

‘You’re the amulet?’ Moll murmured. ‘And my ma . . . is she here too?’

‘It’s only me here, Moll – I’m the first amulet. Your ma’s the second and the third is an unknown soul.’

A sudden dread washed over Moll. ‘Aren’t the amulets all together?’

‘No. The search will take you much further afield than Tanglefern Forest, Moll – over wild seas and across the remotest mountains. The Shadowmasks’ power is growing and their darkness is spreading across the lands; the Ancientwood here is just the beginning . . .’

Moll’s heart sank. The task was widening before her into a dark, forbidding valley.

Alfie shifted in the shadows. ‘How can we find the Amulets of Truth like the Bone Murmur says? You’re – you’re a soul – a voice in the dark . . .’

‘Before amulets become coins, jewels, pendants and the like, they have to have had a story. They have to have counted for something.’ Ferry paused. ‘Each of the Amulets of Truth contains a soul and each of these souls is searching for a virtue needed for the old magic to triumph – virtues that define us as human beings. Once you’ve shown that virtue, the amulet’ll be yours.’

‘What’s the first virtue?’ Moll asked glumly. ‘Because if it’s being polite or thinking before speaking or dressing proper then we’re not going to find these amulets fast.’

Ferry laughed. ‘The first amulet stands for courage. For being brave no matter how bad things get – because you’re not going anywhere in life without bravery.’

Everyone was silent. And then Ferry said, ‘Oak, you’ve been brave fighting to keep Moll and the whole camp safe since the day I left. Alfie—’ Alfie leant in closer, ‘—you’ve been brave helping Moll when it meant risking everything.’ Ferry’s voice became a whisper so that only Alfie and Moll could hear. ‘And in finding the amulets you will learn the truth about your past.’ Alfie’s eyes widened. ‘And Siddy—’

Siddy bit his lip. ‘It’s not my fault I’m scared of bats – Ma borned me that way.’

Ferry laughed. ‘Siddy, you showed courage taking my bone reading and leading everyone to the heart of the forest when no one would believe you. Gryff’s protected Moll’s every move even though there are Shadowmasks out there waiting to take him too.’ He paused. ‘And Moll, my own Moll, you’ve shown bravery in so many ways. Sneaking to Skull’s camp, then escaping, following my bone reading, fighting the Dream Snatch and keeping going every single day, no matter how frightening things have been.’

Moll felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. The wildcat’s paw squeezed tighter on her wrist and, for a second, the turquoise eyes flashed brown – a deep, dark brown like polished leather. Moll looked into her pa’s eyes and smiled. And then the burning blue eyes of the wildcat returned.

‘All of you – you’ve won the amulet fair and square and in a few moments it’ll be yours.’

‘What’ve we got to do to beat the Shadowmasks?’ Moll asked through gritted teeth.

‘Find the last two amulets and destroy the Soul Splinter. You do that and you crush the Shadowmasks and the Bone Murmur is saved – the old magic will keep turning.’

Moll clenched her fists. ‘There’s something else, Pa. Why did the Shadowmasks shave your heads when they came for you? There’s something important about that, but I can’t work out what!’ But at that moment there was a crunch and the wildcat’s paw lifted from her wrist. Moll could feel her pa slipping away. ‘Don’t go!’ she cried.

Her pa’s voice was quieter now. ‘You haven’t much time, Moll. The amulet’ll be yours in a few seconds and later you’ll know what to do with it.’ He paused, his voice quieter still. ‘Moll, never forget you’re part of Oak’s camp – you do belong. I loved you more than any father could love a daughter, but I wasn’t given much time. The others have time and they’re longing to give it to you. So, for me, let them in.’

‘But – but I only just got you back!’ Moll stammered, fresh tears welling. ‘Don’t leave me now!’

‘You’ve a journey in front of you, and a journey’s two things: a moving away and a moving towards. In moving away there is only what is known, and in moving towards there is hope. This is a journey of moving towards. I’ll never really leave you, Moll. I’m around you every day.’

And then the wildcat’s eyes closed. The chamber blackened and Moll stepped backwards, feeling for Gryff. He snuggled close, then the carved wildcat opened its eyes and the chamber was flooded with blue light again.

A strange grinding noise sounded and, very slowly, water began to trickle from the wildcat’s mouth into a wooden basin beneath it. It fell like rumbles of faraway thunder and then there was another sound, and it cut into the rumble as clear as a wind chime: the clatter of something hard dropping into the basin.

There, glittering under the carved wildcat, lay the most spectacular jewel Moll had ever laid eyes on. Cinderella Bull had rubies as red as royal robes and emeralds as deep green as the forest’s leaves, but this jewel was something else.

‘The amulet!’ Moll whispered, hardly daring to breathe.

Every blue – sapphire, cobalt, cerulean, navy, indigo, azure, iris, teal – sparkled from the jewel and danced up and down the walls of the chamber, like a turquoise rainbow trapped underground. The jewel was encased in silver and not moon silver this time, but the real thing. There was a chain – with links as fine as spider’s silk – fashioning the whole thing into a necklace.

Moll reached into the water and held it in her hand. It was cold and heavy, as if many untold secrets had been locked inside it. She slipped it over her head – a part of her pa right there with her.

Her eyes narrowed. ‘Now we’ve got it, we’re going for Skull.’

That’s when the footsteps started: hesitant at first, then louder, faster, like a torrent of water rushing towards them.