The Mists of The Silver Circle: When trust is at breaking point

By James Angela

Mailliw’s final adventure is filled with magic and mystery. This Winter Solstice is one that will go down in the history books as being truly memorable!

Trouble begins when a black-cloaked witch arrives in Feyngrey under strange circumstances. Her arrival coincides with Mother McGinty’s disappearance and the escape of Merry Wil

• Language: English
• Publisher: Acorn Independent Press
• Release date: Feb 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781913036812

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Raven Girl

The kite swerved and dipped in the sky. A twelve-year-old boy, called Mailliw Berry, pulled the string to give the kite some lift, but it kept nose-diving. His friends, Drabder and Monity, stood a short distance away, muffled up in their winter cloaks, woollen hats and scarves. Drabder had his puppy, Max, on a lead, and after the initial excitement of trying to chase the kite, the puppy now sat and waited patiently.

‘This was a rotten idea,’ moaned Monity. ‘The wind is like ice. I’m freezing. I can’t feel my fingers to get my wand out and cast a flame spell to warm my hands up! I want to go back and have some of those hot, buttered crumpets Aunt Foggerty promised us.’

‘Me too,’ agreed Drabder. ‘But you know what he’s like when he gets an idea in his head!’ he said, giving a knowing look towards Mailliw.

Another gust of wind caught the kite, and it struggled against the string like a fish on a fishing line. It caught on the invisible diamond chainmail cuff that Mailliw was wearing, and with a final twist and sharp pull, the kite snapped free. Mailliw watched as it raced up to the clouds.

‘Come on!’ shouted Monity. ‘Let’s go before I turn into a block of ice!’

Mailliw blew on his hands and went to join his friends, but then he stopped. Something black and swirling was moving very fast behind Drabder and Monity, and heading straight for them.

‘Look out!’ Mailliw yelled.

Drabder spun around, saw the twisting tornado, picked up Max and began to run. Monity stood rooted to the ground. The black mass thundered towards her, but she couldn’t move. Mailliw sprinted, his heart pounding and his legs working like pistons to get to Monity. He grabbed her and pushed her to the ground. The swirling mass dragged at their clothes. Monity felt her hat being whipped away and then… it was silent.

Mailliw raised his head. There was no sign that anything had just happened! He looked for Drabder and found him standing about twenty metres away, still clutching Max. Mailliw and Monity got to their knees and stood up. Monity frantically felt under her plaits and gave a huge sigh of relief when she found that her pet, Bit the Bat, was still sleeping and quite safe in her usual place behind her ear. Mailliw surveyed the playing field. Everything seemed almost as it was before, the only change was a person wearing a black cloak, who was walking towards the far end of the field in the direction of Feyngrey, their home market town.

Mailliw and Monity joined Drabder, who stood like a statue with a face as white as a sheet, still gripping Max.

‘Do you know, at first I thought it was your sister!’ he declared.

‘Forthright? What do you mean?’ asked Mailliw.

‘I thought she was that twisting thing – I saw it stop swirling after it passed over you two, and then she just sort of emerged wearing that big cloak, looking like a big, black raven. But it wasn’t Forthright – it was someone else with black hair.’

Mailliw was puzzled. ‘Like a big, black raven – a raven girl,’ he murmured. ‘I wonder who she is?’

‘Do you know what I think?’ said Monity, not waiting for Mailliw or Drabder to reply. ‘It was someone using a travel stone. Drabder, think back to Halloween when that horrible man, Slymus, used a travel stone and disappeared with Mailliw, it looked like what we’ve just seen.’

‘Of course!’ agreed Drabder. ‘Mailliw, because you were abducted by Slymus, you didn’t see what someone using a travel stone looked like. Monity’s right.’

Mailliw shivered, but not from the cold. Something seemed wrong. ‘We ought to get back,’ he said.

Drabder relinquished his hold on Max, and put him on the grass. They left the playing field and returned the short distance to Feyngrey. They walked over the cobbled streets leading to their favourite shop, Madam Bonbons. The window display was always a work of art, and with only two days to go until the twenty-first of December, the day of the winter solstice and celebration of Yule, the display meant something more special than usual. Monity pressed her nose to the window as if trying to inhale the smell of sweetmeats through the glass. Her eyes roamed over the large white chocolate rocking horse as it rested against a tall, green, marzipan fir tree. The tree was decorated with baubles made of stretched and pulled candy that shone like stained glass in colours of red, blue and yellow. Sugar mice hid in the branches, and toffee apples dangled with their burnished crunchy coating. Peppermint creams in the shape of snowflakes were strung around the window, and against a dark-blue backdrop of candyfloss, hundreds of honeycomb stars twinkled. A doll’s house made of lemon shortbread had a snow-white marshmallow roof, and its windows were framed with small, sugared, jellied sweets. White sherbet crystals covered the floor and sparkled like frost, and on each side of the display, mince pies were stacked from floor to ceiling. When the shop door opened, the aroma of warm toffee, hot chocolate cake and roasted almonds escaped.

‘I’m so excited about seeing Princess Frija again,’ Monity said, as her warm breath steamed up the window. ‘After she arrives tomorrow, I’m going to bring her here so she can choose a special Yule present to take home for her father, King Pomidor.’

Mailliw was also looking forward to the ice pixie princess visiting them. He remembered their two adventures together; the first one on the summer solstice, when King Pomidor had forbidden them from ever seeing each other again after they had secretly gone off to find a golden moonbeam, and the second one on Halloween, when the King had lifted the ban after Mailliw had saved Princess Frija and King Pomidor’s kingdom from the clutches of Slymus, the King’s ex-chief of staff.

Mailliw shuddered when he thought about Slymus’ punishment inside the Door of No Return. He had witnessed the man’s distorted face when it had looked terrified and terrifying at the same time, because Slymus couldn’t see out from his side of the door into their world; now he would remain inside the Door of No Return, forever. Mailliw understood it was a punishment that Slymus had brought upon himself, but it was still an experience he wouldn’t forget.

Suddenly, Drabder pulled Monity away from the shop window. He was pointing at something further up the street.

‘It’s the raven girl!’ Monity cried out.

Mailliw turned around to look where both she and Drabder were pointing, but there was no sign of the black-cloaked girl. He could only see people milling around with their shopping baskets filled with Yuletide gifts and food. Once more, Mailliw felt something wasn’t right.

Chapter 2

Jojo’s Warning

The late afternoon sky was darkening, and the Feyngrey shopkeepers were lighting lamps that shone out of their warm, misted windows. Mailliw, Drabder and Monity trudged up the narrow streets with Max, and headed for the small chateau where Mailliw lived. The gates were open as they walked through to the courtyard garden, passed the clock tower, and around the corner towards the steps leading down to the kitchen back door. Nobody had spoken on the way back, but they were all thinking about the raven girl. Who was she and why was she here?

Just as Mailliw was about to open the kitchen back door, he heard something.

‘Psst!’

He looked around, trying to see where the noise had come from, and caught sight of a boy. The boy was peering around the chateau corner that was the furthest from the kitchen door.

‘Psst! I’m over here!’ called the boy.

‘Who is it?’ asked Drabder.

‘It looks like Doctor Poonar’s son. Monity, isn’t he in your class at school? I can’t remember his name,’ said Mailliw.

‘Oh, you mean Jojo. Yes, he’s very clever. He wants to be a doctor, like his dad,’ replied Monity. ‘Hi Jojo, what are you doing here?’

Jojo walked towards them. ‘My dad asked me to come. I’ve got a message for your Aunt Foggerty,’ he said to Mailliw, and paused.

Mailliw became interested and asked, ‘Do you want to come in and tell her?’

Jojo shook his head. ‘No. I can give you the message. My dad wants her to know that Minister Grendig is on his way to Feyngrey to visit him, and will arrive later tonight. He also says the minister is in a terrible temper. He thought your aunt ought to know, just in case the minister decides to pay her a visit. I have to get back now. See you!’

Before Mailliw could ask any questions, Jojo had disappeared around the corner.

‘Oh dear!’ said Monity. ‘I thought we had seen the last of Minister Grendig.’ She shivered at the mere idea of the minister being in a bad mood.

Mailliw was silent, but Drabder could tell by the look on his face that he was dreading another visit from Minister Grendig.

‘Are you okay?’ Drabder asked.

Mailliw shook his head. ‘No. He’ll probably ask the same old questions about the black diamond, and I really can’t tell him anything different.’

Drabder patted his friend’s arm.

‘Monity, I think we should take Max back to your house now. I’ll come with you so I can feed him before I go back to my house,’ said Drabder, quietly.

‘But what about those buttery crumpets Aunt Foggerty promised us?’ wailed Monity. ‘I’m starving!’

‘I’m really sorry, Monity, but Mailliw must take Jojo’s message to Aunt Foggerty. She will have enough to think about without us being under her feet,’ Drabder said, giving her a meaningful glance.

Monity blinked a few times before getting the hint.

‘Oh! Right! Yes, of course!’ agreed Monity, trying to hide her disappointment. She had been looking forward to having tea with Aunt Foggerty. However, she didn’t want to argue with Drabder and upset him. It was hard enough for him to have to leave Max at her house every day.

Seven weeks ago, Turnbull Fink, Drabder’s father, had accused their traveller friend, called Mother McGinty, of trying to steal Drabder’s affection by giving him a puppy. Her uncle had been very unpleasant about the whole thing, and Monity had been so afraid that Mother McGinty would leave, taking Max away with her, that she had asked her parents if Max could live with them. It wasn’t what Drabder had hoped for, but he loved Max and having him living at Monity’s house was better than no Max at all.

‘Come on, Max. It’s time to go,’ she said. ‘Anyway, I ought to get home. Now that I’ve lost my hat, Bit might be getting too cold. Having my bat hibernating behind my ear without a hat isn’t good in this weather.’

Monity linked her arm through Drabder’s. Even though he was Monity’s cousin, to her, he was more like an older brother.

‘Don’t forget, if we can do anything to help, just let us know,’ offered Drabder.

‘Thanks. I will,’ replied Mailliw.

***

The warmth of the kitchen enveloped Mailliw as he entered the back door. Aunt Foggerty was leaning against the large oak table counting out plates ready for tea. Some crumpets were stacked, ready for toasting over the fire in the snug upstairs, and a chocolate cake with a cream and black cherry filling sat on a glass cake plate. As usual, a large pot of tea was already made, and wisps of steam rose from the spout.

‘Had a good time?’ asked Aunt Foggerty, as she continued putting things ready for tea.

‘More like interesting,’ replied Mailliw. He began to fiddle with the crumpets.

‘Where are Drabder, Monity and Max? You haven’t argued have you?’ asked Aunt Foggerty, reaching for her walking stick. She winced as she turned; today was a bad day for her leg. Doctor Poonar had given her some strong pain relief medicine, but because it contained poppy juice it made her sleepy, so she only took it at night.

‘No, we haven’t argued. Just now, we met Doctor Poonar’s son, Jojo, outside the back door,’ said Mailliw, and he explained what Jojo had told him. ‘So, Drabder and Monity thought it best if they went home.’

Aunt Foggerty pulled out a chair from under the large oak kitchen table and sat down.

‘I see,’ she said. ‘I know Minister Grendig is still very anxious because he hasn’t found the black diamond yet. He’ll probably be out of sorts, so it was good of Doctor Poonar to warn us.’

She looked at Mailliw’s gloomy face. The last six months had been very difficult for him. Ever since the summer solstice, when the black diamond had come into their lives, nothing had been right. Forthright, his sister, had nearly disappeared with silver moonbeam sickness; for Mailliw to save her, he had to visit an old witch. The truth behind the identity of the witch had been a great shock to him. It was a strain remembering to keep it a secret that Merry Willows, a witch who had committed a terrible crime, was his grandmother. Even his father didn’t know his own mother was alive. The timing of Mailliw receiving the black diamond, which he had thought was a gift from his parents, seemed to trigger a sequence of events. But the black diamond hadn’t been the intended gift from his parents. Instead, it was a valuable artefact from the secret archaeological site where his parents had been working. Nobody knew who had sent the black diamond to Mailliw. Not knowing any of this, and to save Forthright from silver moonbeam sickness, Mailliw had exchanged the black diamond for a golden moonbeam from King Pomidor, an ice pixie. Afterwards, Minister Grendig intended to get the black diamond back from King Pomidor, but around Halloween it was stolen before it could be returned. Despite finding that Slymus, King Pomidor’s ex-chief of staff, was behind the theft, the black diamond was still missing.

‘Everything is still such a mess, isn’t it?’ Mailliw said, grabbing another chair and slumping into it. ‘And I’ve got a horrible feeling that things are about to get worse.’

He looked about the kitchen. The warm kitchen air that had greeted him on his return had changed. Something seemed to be sucking the warmth and happiness out of his surroundings.

Aunt Foggerty became concerned. ‘Worse? What makes you say that?’ she asked.

Mailliw was just about to explain the arrival of the raven girl, when suddenly, the clattering of feet on the stairs leading down to the kitchen made him stop. Mailliw’s older sister, Forthright, rushed in. She pushed her shoulder-length black hair back behind her ears and held out a letter.

‘I’ve just received this. Look! Mum and Dad will be back home on the twentieth of December, after their trip to Panir – that’s tomorrow. They’ll be back in time for the winter solstice and Yule celebrations! Hurrah! They also say that they’ve got something exciting to tell us!’

Forthright grabbed Mailliw’s hands, pulled him up from where he was sitting, and led him around the table in a quick jig. Her laughter and joy brought back the familiar cosy feeling in the kitchen. She bumped into Dingle, her household pet dragon, as she danced over to the dresser. He had heard the fun in the main kitchen and sauntered along from the dragons’ kitchen to find out what was going on.

‘Ow!’ he complained. ‘You trod on my toe!’

‘Sorry, Dingle. Here, have a peppermint and parsley patty,’ she said, taking the lid off the large glass jar where they kept them and offering him one. Then she added, ‘No, have two, have three! But if you want to breathe emerald-green flames, you’ll have to go outside.’

Dingle considered this. The night had drawn in and the air was icy. With the dark and the cold, he might be lucky enough to create some emerald-green sparks as well as the green flames. But then he remembered about the time in the summer, when he had thrown emerald-green flames at Peculiar, and burnt the fur off her tail. Peculiar was Mailliw’s pet vampire cat, and Dingle missed her company. Seven weeks ago, after the theft of the black diamond, Peculiar had to return to her family in Deep South. Since then, the dragons’ kitchen had been extremely dull without her; Cleopatra, Aunt Foggerty’s old house dragon, was always sleeping, and Norgruk, who was Mailliw’s parents’ dragon, was too grumpy to want to have any fun. Going outside alone to create green fire suddenly lost its appeal.

‘What time does Frija arrive tomorrow?’ asked Forthright, calming down after hurting Dingle’s toe.

‘In the morning, Sturvald Trotter will have to harness up Norgruk and Cleopatra to the carriage, so that he can collect Frija from the Guardian of the Winter Mountains, and then bring her back here. So I suppose her arrival will be any time from four o’clock onwards,’ answered Aunt Foggerty.

‘Last time, she arrived around Halloween using a gateway,’ said Mailliw.

‘Yes, I know, but that was against the Council of Wisdom’s rules. We don’t use gateways here. I believe that with everything going on with the black diamond, Minister Grendig generously overlooked the incident and didn’t report it to the Council. This time, we must do things correctly,’ replied Aunt Foggerty. ‘Forthright, my leg hasn’t been too good today, would you mind going and sorting out the guest room and making up the bed for Frija? The sheets are in the linen cupboard, but they need to have the dried lavender bags removed first. If you could do that, then Mailliw can help me take the crumpets and the cake up to the snug.’

‘Dingle, come and keep me company,’ said Forthright, as she slipped back up the stairs singing a traditional Yule song as she went.

When Mailliw was sure that his sister and Dingle had gone, he told Aunt Foggerty what had happened at the playing field.

‘I think Monity’s correct,’ said Aunt Foggerty. ‘Someone did use a travel stone. But why have they arrived using one?’ she paused as if trying to puzzle things out, then she continued. ‘We are close to the height of the Lunasolexus year. As you now know, the magic for the full moon on the last summer solstice was very powerful. Having a full moon on the summer solstice and the winter solstice in the same year, is what makes it a Lunasolexus year. So, this winter solstice night on the twenty-first of December, will be the peak of Lunasolexus, and the magic will have even more power! The fact that somebody came here to Feyngrey using a travel stone is disturbing news. Travel stones are rare, and usually come in a matching pair. You told me that the one Slymus used was destroyed when he tried to use it to escape at the trial. Is that correct?’

‘Yes. Minister Grendig had put a powerful spell on it. Afterwards, it was just a pile of ash,’ said Mailliw.

‘So, it’s not the same stone,’ replied Aunt Foggerty. She sighed and looked thoughtful for a few moments. ‘It’s all such a muddle, isn’t it? I feel rather like my poor old flying carpet! No matter what I did after Merry Willows cast a spell on it, I couldn’t stop it from unravelling until, in the end, the carpet no longer existed. All the events that have happened since the summer solstice seem to be unravelling something. As soon as one thing seems to be sorted, something else becomes undone.’

Mailliw watched Aunt Foggerty. Her silver waist-length hair had been wound into a bun at the nape of her neck. Wispy strands framed her face, a face that was normally calm and serene, but not tonight; her black eyes, flecked with gold, were worried.

‘Do you think it’s because it is a Lunasolexus year?’ asked Mailliw. ‘After all, a full moon falling on the summer and winter solstices in the same year only happens every nineteen years, so if anyone wanted to do powerful magic, this Lunasolexus would be the ideal opportunity.’

‘The clues seem to point in that direction, and they appear to be connected to the black diamond,’ murmured Aunt Foggerty, rubbing her forehead and loosening a few more strands of silver hair. ‘And if they are, then the full moon on the winter solstice could be a time of great danger for all of us.’

‘That’s probably why Minister Grendig is so desperate to find the black diamond, and to put it in the safekeeping of the Council of Wisdom. He’s running out of time,’ Mailliw replied. ‘Even so, I’d rather he didn’t come here and ask the same questions yet again.’

Aunt Foggerty nodded. ‘There’s nothing we can do for the moment. Help me take the crumpets and cake to the snug. Forthright will soon be finished making up Frija’s bed, and she will wonder what we’ve been doing.’

***

In the snug, the rising moon shone pale silvery shafts of light through the window before Mailliw closed the curtains. Aunt Foggerty and Forthright sat in the snug and watched him toast their crumpets in front of the fire. It was a room where Mailliw felt he could come when he was troubled.

Tonight, he concentrated on getting just the right amount of toasting done on the crumpets, before handing them over for Forthright to butter. Aunt Foggerty sat in a chair close to the fire.

To him, it seemed wrong that Forthright didn’t know everything about what had happened last summer when he had met Merry Willows for the first time. But the witch had insisted that he kept her secret, just like Aunt Foggerty had done for years. There had been times when he almost dropped his guard, and he was just about to make a comment about her, when he would suddenly clam up, leaving his sister sighing with frustration because he wouldn’t finish what he was just about to say.

Forthright had tried to be patient with him because she knew he was missing Peculiar, his pet vampire cat. She would feel the same if she didn’t have Dingle anymore.

Forthright spread another crumpet with butter, offered it to Aunt Foggerty and said, ‘Tonight, I need to check my ceremonial gown, ready for the solstice silver moonbeam collecting.’ She gave a small shiver when she remembered how the summer solstice silver moonbeam collecting had gone terribly wrong. ‘Then, I’ve got some studying to finish. Will that be okay, or do you need me to do anything else to help out this evening? It’s just that I want to get some important ideas worked out before Frija arrives tomorrow.’ She paused to lick her buttery fingers. ‘I really want to enjoy this full moon solstice, and you never know, I might even get to try out my new ideas. Just think how powerful the magic will be as the full moon rises – and then, after the solstice, the power will begin waning as the Lunasolexus year starts closing down,’ she said, staring into the fire, as if hypnotised by the flames.

‘That’s fine. Mailliw and I will clear away,’ said Aunt Foggerty.

Mailliw was just about to protest, when Aunt Foggerty raised a finger and said, ‘We’ll do it with magic tonight, Mailliw. I’ll teach you some new spells, but only so long as you don’t get lazy and use magic every time. Regard it as a special homework lesson. Afterwards, we’ll go to your father’s library. You can help me look for something.’

Mailliw grinned. ‘Wow! For once, I’m going to enjoy clearing away,’ he said, glancing at the cooling pools of butter that had dripped from the crumpets onto their plates.

Forthright picked up a knife and cut a slice of cake for each of them. They ate in silence. The fire crackled and hissed when Mailliw put on another log, and the ticking from the Four Times Clock kept its rhythmic heartbeat as the hands progressed towards the time for the winter solstice. On that day, it would strike one gong. It wouldn’t strike again until the spring equinox.

Chapter 3

A Fairy’s Soul

‘If only clearing away was always that quick! That was great fun!’ said Mailliw, fifteen minutes later as he helped Aunt Foggerty into his father’s study. She sat down at Philleas’ desk and looked at all the books.

‘What is it that you want me to help you with?’ asked Mailliw, eyeing the shelves packed tightly with thousands of books.

‘Halfmind brought me a message from