4

The Door in the Dark

‘Helpless, pitiful little creature,’ the monster hissed as it surrounded her. ‘Pathetic. What does she want with you? What does she want with something so … small? Far too small to be of any importance.’

Frost formed on Gafferty’s hair, and she felt her body numbing with cold and terror. The thing was draining her resolve, dulling her senses. She wanted to give in to it. She was no match for whatever this malevolent creature was.

But … what if it finds Gobkin?

The thought of her little brother was the spark she needed. She was responsible for him! Her mind struggled against the oppressive, deadening presence. It seemed hopeless at first. Then she remembered Dad’s saying. She’d always thought it was soft, but it gave her hope.

‘Too small to cause any trouble, maybe,’ she blurted out, her voice getting stronger with each word, ‘but big enough to care!’ The frost melted, and Gafferty could feel her blood warm her from within, her thoughts clearing.

The thing hesitated, taken aback. The tiny girl had spirit – it had not expected that! It only paused for a moment, but it was enough time for Gafferty to roll out of its clutches, scramble to her feet and run.

She bolted down the tunnel. She couldn’t lead it to Gobkin – what could she do? Gafferty scoured her brain for a solution. She remembered Rule Four: if in doubt, make it up! There was a fork in the tunnel ahead. The right-hand passage led home – Gobkin would have taken that. The left-hand passage led into the forbidden parts of the Tangle.

The Tangle: the vast network of tunnels that ran under the human town. It had once housed many Smidgens – their homes, their schools, their shops and markets, their communities. But now the Smidgens were gone, except for her little family, and all the old maps of the Tangle had gone with them. It was an unending, empty labyrinth, a setting for ghost stories to scare naughty Smidgen-kids at bedtime. Dad had forbidden her to ever go beyond their known routes. If you’re not careful you could be lost for good, he’d say. She knew she shouldn’t go down there. But this was an emergency.

Without wavering she fled into the unwelcoming blackness. The thing swept after her, she could feel the cold air on her heels. It was too fast; she would never escape it – not carrying this weight! It was catching up, almost upon her!

Then the floor disappeared from under her feet.

For a split second she was running in empty space. With a crash she landed on a bank of loose shingle, sending up a cloud of dust around her, her legs giving way in the pain and shock of the impact. The ground had collapsed into a crater and she was tumbling into it, her spider arms flailing ridiculously as she rolled over rocks and slid through drifts of grit and pebbles. She dug her fingers into the ground, bringing her fall to an abrupt halt, just before she slammed against a jagged rock.

Gafferty lay still for a minute, panting furiously. She tested her arms and legs, moving them gently. Nothing was broken, but there would probably be bruises in the morning. Then she thought: the creature! What happened to it?

She looked around, then back up to the tunnel. The thing leered down at her. The air swirled violently but the shape didn’t move any nearer, though she sensed it desperately wanted to. Why didn’t it come for her? It was as if an invisible wall had sprung up between them, holding it back. There was a tense pause as the creature appeared to decide what to do next. Then, with an exasperated snarl, the chill slowly retreated. Gafferty wanted to call out, to warn Gobkin, but she knew she mustn’t draw him into the creature’s path. She waited, listening for signs that it really had gone and frantically hoping that her brother wouldn’t blunder into it by accident. Painful minutes passed but there was only silence. She breathed a long sigh of relief.

She wasn’t out of the woods yet: there could be more dangers lurking in this unexplored warren. She carefully got to her feet, ready to run. Gafferty could see by the glow of the light-stone that she was in another tunnel that ran below the first. At some point the roof had fallen in, joining the two tunnels together. The lower tunnel stretched away into the darkness. And there, in the stone wall in front of her, a door. It was rather grand, framed by carved pillars and ornate but long-rusted metalwork, but the most important thing was its size. It was a door made for a Smidgen.

Gafferty couldn’t resist. Dad wouldn’t like it, but she had to know. What if it had been someone’s home? A quick look and then she would go and find Gobkin.

She knew it was silly, but she knocked quietly, just in case. No answer. She leaned against the wooden surface and pushed. The door resisted for a second then opened with a complaining rasp. The room beyond was large, its walls lined with empty shelves, laden with dust. Perhaps it had been a library, once filled with books. Clearly no one had been here for a long time. Gafferty wasn’t surprised but couldn’t help but be disappointed.

She turned to leave, then something caught her eye. The shelves weren’t quite empty. A solitary forgotten book lay forlornly on a bottom shelf. Gafferty picked it up.

The cover was soft, not much more than a piece of cloth. There were three symbols on it, the first a kind of triangular shape like a pyramid, followed by a circle, followed by an upside-down triangle. It didn’t look like a storybook. And it wasn’t: opening the cover, Gafferty was faced with bold letters announcing the book was an atlas.

A Map of the Tangle, it said. Showing All the Secret Roads and Lost and Legendary Ways of the Three Clans. In Case We Forget. A map of the Tangle – this was almost better than finding treasure! She quickly stuffed the book into her bag and made her way back out into the tunnel.

A spot of light shone from overhead. It was Gobkin’s torch. She saw his worried face looking down at her from the upper passageway.

‘Gafferty?’ He was anxious, but unharmed. ‘Why are you down there? It’s not allowed.’ He gawped at her dust-spotted face as she scrambled back up the rockfall. ‘Are you OK? You’re covered in dirt and scratches.’

‘Yes. I’m – I’m fine.’ No need to frighten Gobkin. She glanced around at the dancing shadows. The tunnel was deserted apart from the two of them. ‘I took a wrong turn and fell down this hole, that’s all. That’s what happens when you run off like that, leaving me without a light to show the way. Don’t ever do that again, hasty-toes!’

‘All right!’ said Gobkin, grumpily. ‘I was only asking. You won’t get me into trouble, will you?’

‘No.’ Her voice softened. This wasn’t his fault really. ‘No, I won’t tell.’ And anyway, thanks to him she had found the atlas, a relic of another time. It was important. It was going to change things.

‘Good,’ he said, brightening. ‘Anyway, the worm had gone if you’re interested. Can we go home? I’m so hungry I could eat the whole chip myself, including the paper. Though how you’re going to explain why it’s so squashed and dirty, I’ve no idea.’