Free Spellfall by Katherine Roberts Page B

woods.”
    The Spell Lord gave him an amused glance. “Easily fooled, aren’t you?” He turned back to Mr Marlins and his tone hardened. “You were supposed to bring your daughter to us on her twelfth birthday so she could bond with her mother’s hound and decide for herself. Now she’s not only in enemy hands but I assume she knows nothing at all about us. If the Casters harm her, you’ve only yourself to blame.”
    “There was no point telling her! She’s a normal, happy little girl. She’s got friends, she goes to school. If you need proof, she can see in our world! She’ll hate Earthaven. I only wanted her to have a normal life.”
    Mr Marlins seemed close to tears. If he hadn’t been so scared himself, Tim would have been embarrassed. He forced himself to stay calm and listen.
    “What sort of life do you think she’ll have after the Casters have finished with her?” the Spell Lord was saying. “I agree it’s unusual she can see so well among you but that’s probably because she was born in your world. The important thing now is to get her out of the Casters’ hands before they do some irreparable damage. We’ll send K’tanaqui to find her. Meanwhile, you can distribute those spells you’ve been hoarding in your car before they die of old age. Better wait till after the Opening before you come up here again. We’re expecting trouble this year. As for your stepson... I’m sorry, but he’s seen too much.”
    Tim’s blood chilled. It had been a struggle to follow the exchange, but he understood this last part only too well. He glared at Mr Marlins. “Do something!” he hissed.
    His stepfather’s eyes slid away. He bowed to the Spell Lord, got into his car and drove away.
    Tim stared after the vanishing tail lights in disbelief. “Coward!” he yelled.
    *
    After Mr Marlins had gone, the dog let go of Tim’s sleeve. But before he could make a run for it, two of the cloaked men detached themselves from the group around the truck and came to stand one each side of him. Tim glimpsed long knives glittering in their belts and changed his mind about running. He also changed his mind about hitching a ride. When the Spell Lord pointed to a fallen log and told him to sit, he had little choice but to obey.
    While he waited, he turned his attention to the standing stone. It was about twice his height and twisted like the trunk of an ancient tree. With the fog drifting around its moss-clothed coils, it looked as if it had grown out of the earth itself. Shadows cast by the truck’s headlamps writhed around it. Just below eye level, a hole the size of a human head appeared to go right through the stone. The cloaked people were putting their sacks into this hole, yet strangely they didn’t come out the other side. Each time a sack disappeared, there was a green flare and a strange chill seeped out of the stone, penetrating Tim’s bones.
    There had to be some kind of hidden mechanism, Tim decided, triggered by a lever inside the hole. Maybe the stone was hollow and the sacks were being stored inside it for collection later? What he really needed was a closer look. But every time he started to rise from the log, the dog growled and his two guards stiffened, causing the Spell Lord to glance his way. Tim sat down again and fiddled with the zips of his jacket.
    “What’s in the sacks?” he asked his guards. “Why are you putting them in the stone?”
    The two glanced at each other but didn’t answer.
    “Are you Casters?” Tim asked curiously.
    This got a reaction. One of his guards spat on the ground. “No we’re not! Casters aren’t allowed to live in Earthaven. They spend their whole lives squabbling over spells and casting silly little illusions at each other. Half of ’em can’t even do that properly. There’s a spellclave in some old lodge not half a mile from here but they never come near the Thrallstone, they’re too frightened of the Boundary spells. Pah!”
    “Spells?” Tim said, starting