Free Maze Running and other Magical Missions by Lari Don Page B

family to play music for you in the faeries’ lands?”
    Lee looked away. He looked at his clean boots. At Helen’s muddy boots. At the rock, at his swords, then back at Helen.
    He put his hand on the rock. “For Yann, I will speak the truth. Yes. Yes, I do plan to take you from your home to play music for my people. Your music is the most powerful that I’ve ever heard, that our King or Queen have ever heard. The faery who brings your talent to our lands will gain far more influence than a swift sword can ever bring. So yes, I do plan to steal you, take you to our lands and keep you there for hundreds of years, knowing that if you ever come back to your own world, you will crumble into dust.”
    The rock creaked.
    Lee put his other hand on the rock and spoke clearly. “And I haven’t taken you yet, Helen Strang, not because I think it would be wrong; not because I know you’d miss your parents, your sister and your friends. It’s simply because if I stole you, then I could never come back to this Scotland, because I’d be afraid of the revenge your friends would take.”
    The rock rumbled.
    “I want to steal you, because I’m selfish and ambitious; I haven’t stolen you, because I’m a coward. That’s the truth, and I’m not proud of it.”
    The rock slid open.
    Helen stared at Lee. He didn’t look at her; he stared into the black hole in the hillside.
    Helen whispered, “I need to ask one more question.Does this door really lead to a hollow hill in this world? Or does it lead to your lands?”
    “This is not a faery door, Helen. You will be safe in here.” Then he smiled. A thin, tight smile. “Well, you’ll be safe from me. Neither of us will be safe from your human knights.”
    He took a step in.
    Helen hesitated. “Was that the truth?”
    “You won’t know unless you step inside.” Lee walked into the hill.
    Helen followed him.
    Once she was inside, the rock door crashed shut. The slam echoed into the deep cold darkness. Lee and Helen looked at each other in the small pool of light they’d brought in with them. They didn’t speak. Then Helen stepped in front of Lee, so her torch lit the way ahead and his cloak lit the tunnel behind them. And she walked forward.
    Helen knew she should be pleased they’d found the key to open the door, to lead them to the healing token that could save Yann’s life. But she was too shocked by Lee’s answer, too upset because she knew she could never trust him again.
    She had hoped he would answer “no” and the door would open, proving that he was telling the truth. But the truth he had told wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Or was it?
    In the soft echo of their footsteps, she heard her mum’s voice: “Don’t you have any proper homework to do?” and she wondered what answer she’d really been hoping Lee would give.
    The stone tunnel was wide, with a cobbled floor, smooth walls and a high arched roof. The floor sloped downwards, deep into the ground, then it curved left, flattened out and headed for the larger Eildons.
    When the noise of their footsteps changed to a broader echo, Lee drew his sword and moved in front of Helen.
    They walked forward into a stable, stalls cut into the hill on either side. Each stall had a trough for water, hooks for hay and grooves in the floor worn by heavy hooves.
    Helen stepped into the nearest stall. The trough was dry. Wisps of straw made dirty yellow lines on the floor. She picked one up and it crumbled in her fingers. Crumbled into dust, like a human returning from the faeries’ parties.
    She swallowed her sudden panic and continued down the long tunnel, checking every stall. But they were all cold, dusty and empty.
    At the end of the stalls, the tunnel opened out into a dark chamber. Helen put her fingers over the torch beam so it didn’t shine so brightly, and walked forward.
    There was a smell, a warmth, a feeling of life, and Helen wondered if the horses from the stable were now in here.
    She heard Lee whisper