One moment Jessie was clutching Storm tightly, the next he was dashing away through the trees.
‘Storm, come back!’ she shouted.
He turned his head and barked, then ran on. He wanted them to follow. David hung back and she caught his wrist and pulled him.
He shook his head. ‘I’m not leaving Ceridwen.’
‘You have to. She told us to run. Storm knows what he’s doing.’
She glanced back to see Ceridwen throw Professor Ryston into a tree. The sorceress turned round. A trickle of blood snaked down the side of her face, turning pink in the rain.
‘David . . . Go!’ Ceridwen said.
David’s arm jerked. ‘She’s never called me David before.’
Jessie pulled at him again and this time he followed her. The ground rose sharply, slippery with mud. Storm zigzagged in front of them, sniffing at the earth.
‘I should have stayed a hare,’ David muttered as a red flash lit up the trees behind them. ‘Hares never have this kind of trouble. You become human, then you start to think like a human. You start caring about things, and it always ends in disaster.’
A tree fell over behind them with a crash that made Jessie jump. Her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her. Ceridwen shouted, and the shout turned into an animal cry of pain. Looking back, Jessie could see flashes of light, like fireworks through the trees. She slowed, but Storm ran back and nipped at her heels.
‘I wish I’d never even heard of Abergavenny,’ she said, breathless.
David caught up with her. ‘If it helps, I’m glad you’re here. If I have to be in mortal peril, I’d rather do it with a friend.’ He clambered up a steep patch and turned back, holding out his hand. ‘You don’t seem very surprised by all this. Most humans refuse to believe in magic, even if it happens right in front of them.’
Jessie grasped his hand to pull herself up. ‘I think if something is happening right in front of you it’s a good idea to believe in it.’ Besides, after seeing David turn into a hare and back she was prepared to believe anything was possible.
Storm ran around them, barking, as another flash of magic lit the sky.
‘Don’t worry,’ Jessie said to him. ‘They won’t hurt you. I won’t let them.’
They couldn’t help by going back. They had to go on – they had to find the Hunt. It was the only way Storm would ever be safe.
They kept running, stumbling over the rough ground, until the slope levelled and they emerged from the trees on to a wide ridge where the wind howled in their faces. Jessie stopped, and rested her hands on her knees, panting for breath. Above them, the sky rolled with thick, black cloud. Jessie could just make out the town spread out between the mountains.
‘Well, we’re here,’ she said. ‘What do we do now?’
Storm growled like thunder. Straightening up, Jessie saw a red mass collect over the treetops and three shapes rise into it. The professors.
Jessie reached for David’s hand, her insides churning. Ceridwen had failed. The professors were coming – and where was the Wild Hunt? Storm jumped up at her, pawing at the bottom of her coat.
‘It’s all right,’ Jessie said. Her voice shook. ‘I won’t let them have you.’
‘Neither will I,’ David said fiercely. Jessie shot him a grateful smile and started to run along the ridge, looking about for anywhere they could hide. Nothing. There weren’t even any trees up here, just rough jags of rock. The sky rumbled and an answering tremor shook the ground.
‘You can stop running now,’ a voice said behind them. It was Professor Utterby.
Jessie stumbled. David let out a low cry of dismay.
The three professors stepped on to the mountain ridge together. Nuffield and Ryston had lost their weapons, and all three of them were bleeding in places – that was something, at least. Professor Utterby leaned on his staff and held one hand inside his coat as if injured.
David started forward. ‘What have you done with my aunt?’ His whole body was shaking.
Professor Utterby smiled and drew his hand out from under his coat.
Jessie gasped. Storm barked and David swayed and stumbled.
Professor Utterby held a white hare by the back legs. It twitched feebly in his grasp, its amber eyes wide open but clouded and unseeing.
‘Your aunt’s magic isn’t as strong as she likes to think,’ Professor Utterby said carelessly. ‘She really shouldn’t have challenged us. It was three against one, after all.’
‘Let her go,’ David shouted. His face was white, his fists clenched.
‘Gladly.’ Professor Utterby tossed the hare’s limp body into the grass. ‘And, in exchange, you’ll hand over the dog.’
David stood, tears running down his face with the rain. He’d agree. He had to: he couldn’t let his aunt die. He’d let the professors take Storm, and he’d blame himself forever for it. Jessie’s ankle throbbed and she had a stitch in her side, but she barely felt the pain. The professors had won.
‘She might even recover – in time,’ Professor Nuffield said with a smile.
And then Jessie was angry. The professors didn’t need to do this. They could take Storm now and there was nothing she or David could do to stop them. They just wanted David to admit his aunt had lost.
She bent to stroke Storm’s wet coat with a trembling hand. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘It’ll be all right.’ It was the biggest lie she’d ever told. How could anything be all right after this?
Lightning split the sky right above her.
‘You could still join us,’ Professor Ryston said. ‘Don’t you want to know all the secrets of the world?’
Was he really that stupid?
‘No,’ Jessie said. ‘I don’t.’ She wanted to be normal, to live with her mum and dad and Ben, and she didn’t even care where they lived any more. She wanted to go to school, go to birthday parties, draw pictures of Storm playing in the garden and not have to worry about people trying to hurt him. Mum and Dad had split their family in half, but the professors were threatening to destroy everything.
The rage inside her compacted down to a single, white-hot point. She stood up straight and faced the three of them. She knew she couldn’t beat them – she’d just seen them defeat Ceridwen. All she could do was gain them a little time for David to do something clever, or for help to come. ‘I am Jessica Price,’ she said. ‘Protector of my Friends and my Home. Professor Utterby, Professor Ryston, Professor Nuffield, by all the laws of magic, I challenge you.’
Everything stopped. Her words hung in the air like thunder. The professors stared at her, their mouths dropping open.
‘Jessie, no!’ David said, aghast.
Professor Utterby took a step back. ‘You’re challenging us? You and the puppy?’
Jessie hadn’t thought to bring Storm into it, but she felt him pressing against her legs. She locked her knees to stop them trembling and nodded. ‘Yes. Me and the puppy. The sorcerer’s challenge, right? You can’t do anything until you’ve accepted or surrendered.’
Professor Utterby laughed softly. ‘I don’t think so. Nuffield, get the dog.’
Ryston shook his head. ‘Sorry. This is unorthodox, but she has challenged.’
‘He’s right,’ Nuffield said.
Jessie’s heart pounded.
‘They’ll kill you,’ David whispered, his voice fierce.
‘I know.’ They didn’t want to, though: she could see the hesitation in their faces. It was the only thing that gave her hope.
Professor Utterby lowered his gaze. ‘It appears we have no choice. Challenge—’
Then Storm howled.