Thistlebloom and the Secrets of Brewer's Botanicals

Chapter Fifteen

'Which way did they go?' Vesper was saying.

'What's the magic word?' said the ghost.

'All right — please.'

'GOTCHA! HA!' And they heard the ghost whooshing away and Vesper cursing in rage.

'I think we'll be okay — get off, Lucus!' Lucus had been tugging on Lysander's sleeve. 'What?'

Lysander turned around and for a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare.

A woman stood before them or rather floated. She was a pale, ghostly figure with long hair and a tattered gown. Her eyes were glowing. She looked mournful and had tear stains on her pale cheeks.

Lysander knew that the only reason they weren't dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise. She lifted her head and her black hair fell back to reveal her face. Her eye sockets had sunk in, and her lips were dried and cracking.

Lysander reached for the doorknob – between Vesper and death, he'd take Vesper.

They fell backward – Lysander slammed the door shut, and they ran back down the corridor.

They didn't stop running until they reached their dormitory.

'Aperio Janua,' Lysander panted, and the door swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed into armchairs.

It was a while before any of them said anything.

'What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that in a school?' said Lucus.

Elara had her bad temper back again. 'You don't use your eyes, do you?' she snapped. 'Didn't you see what was below it?'

'I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its eyes.' Lysander swallowed as he remembered those death-filled sockets.

'It was standing on a trapdoor. It's guarding something.' She stood up, glaring at them. 'We could all have been killed. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed.'

'You'd think we forced her to come along, wouldn't you?'

But Elara had given Lysander something to think about as he climbed into bed.

That woman was Indeed guarding something.

Malachite couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that they were still there the next day. Lysander and Lucus thought that meeting the pale women had been an adventure and they were ready to have another one. In the meantime, they spent a lot of time wondering what could need such protection.

'It's either valuable or dangerous,' said Lucus.

'Or both,' said Lysander.

Elara showed no interest in what lay underneath the trapdoor.

Elara was now refusing to speak to them. All they wanted now was a way of getting back at Malachite, and a week later they got their wish.

Lysander ripped open the letter first and read:

Do not open the parcel at the table.

It contains your Swiftraptor, but I don't want everybody to know you've got one of the rarest creatures or they'll all want one. Thorn will meet you tonight on the field at seven o'clock for your first training session.

Professor Swiftwing

'A Swiftraptor!" Lucus exclaimed. 'I've never even seen one.'

They left the hall, wanting to unwrap the creature in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall, they found the way upstairs blocked by Finch and Wren. Malachite seized the package.