Shona looked down as they soared over the mountain top and as the glen unfolded beneath them, her eyes searched the gathering gloom to see if she could see signs of torchlight. Her parents, she knew, must be worried about them.
“You all right, Shona?” Neil asked.
She nodded her head. “I’m fine,” she said with a grin. “It’s because I can’t believe it’s happening,” she admitted. “I just know I’m in a dream. How can I be flying on a dragon’s back? It’s impossible.”
Neil smiled, glad that she had relaxed, and as they drew nearer to Morven, pointed out Glenmorven House and Hughie’s cottage. He frowned in sudden alarm as he had expected Arthur to land somewhere close by so that they could get home quickly and reassure the Fergusons that they were quite safe. Arthur, however, didn’t seem to be losing height at all and, instead of landing, they passed over Glenmorven House. It was then that they realized he was heading for Morven, itself. He wasn’t slowing down either and as the mountain loomed large in front of them, Neil gave a sudden yell of alarm. “Arthur, slow down! We’re going to hit the mountain!”
“Amgarad!” Clara yelled, her eyes frantic with shock. “Amgarad, look out!” For the great bird was swooping at speed towards the rocky sides of the mountain. Clara hardly dared look. She was sure he was going to hit it. “Amgarad! Nooooo!” she cried.
Amgarad didn’t exactly hit the mountain; he seemed to disappear through it.
Neil cottoned on immediately to what was happening. “We’re going to do the same,” Neil shouted as the girls started to scream. “Hold on tight! We’re going … throuuuuuuuugh!”
There was no impact. They flew clean through the rocky slopes without feeling a thing and their screams tailed off as they realized that they were quite safe and flying through a vast, brightly lit cavern inside the mountain. At last, Shona thought, looking around in wonder. At last I’m inside the mountain. I always thought there was something magic about it and now I’m going to find out what it is. Peering over Clara’s shoulder she could see a raised dais at the far end of the hall, where high-backed, silver thrones curved in a wide half circle.
Arthur’s claws slid and slithered over the polished expanse of cream-coloured marble and as he came to a somewhat undignified halt in front of the thrones, a tall, white-haired old man rose and moved towards him. Arthur sank to his knees and bowed low.
Lord Alarid touched his head. “Well done, Arthur,” he said gently. “We were wise to ask you to rescue the children.” He looked at them, smiling at the amazement on their faces. “Welcome,” he said, “welcome to the Court of the Lords of the North.”
Formal introductions were then made and Lewis’s lips twitched in a smile as he saw the wonder on Shona’s face as they met the gloriously robed magicians.
“Shona,” Lord Alarid said, kindly, “we are pleased to meet you at last. We have watched you grow up over the years and know that you love Morven.”
“I … I’ve always felt it was a special mountain,” Shona admitted, shyly, “but until now I didn’t know how special. It’s … it’s wonderful!”
Neil, meanwhile, scanned the hall and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Archie, who had obviously demerged safely from Amgarad, talking to Lewis and the MacArthur at the side of the dais. Thank goodness, Lewis was okay.
Standing tall and impressive to one side of the dais was a magic mirror. Neil eyed it almost fondly. Magic mirrors had played a large part in their lives and were powerful objects of magic. So, thought Neil, that’s how Arthur and Archie had appeared so quickly to rescue them. They must have come from Edinburgh through the mirrors. Amgarad, he noticed, had already flown to perch on the arm of Lord Rothlan’s throne and spread his wings in greeting as they approached. All the lords were present and as they bowed their way along the line, Lord Rothlan and Lady Ellan rose and hugged them warmly, as did Prince Casimir.
Shona, who still half-believed she was in a dream, eyed them in amazement and some wonder. The magicians; for they must be magicians, Shona reckoned, seemed absolutely delighted to see Neil and Clara and obviously knew them well.
Ugly Mug caused a stir when she jumped down onto the floor and, seeing Shona, pranced happily towards her. Then she saw the dragon and her fur stood on end in tiny spikes as she backed off, hissing and spitting furiously. Arthur, however, batted his wonderful eyes at the kitten and as Clara bent to pick her up, a stream of magic comforted the little creature.
“Lewis has been telling me about the stone giants, Neil,” Lord Rothlan said. “You mustn’t worry, you know. The old lords have put a protective shield round Glenmorven so they won’t be able to get in.”
“Why are they so anxious to get into the glen, Lord Rothlan?” Clara asked. “Do they want to come to the mountain?”
“We don’t know the reason, Clara,” Rothlan answered. “We think the first attack released them from Firestar’s spell but we don’t know why they want to come here.”
“We heard about Firestar from Hughie,” nodded Neil. “Was that the explosion that shot through the top of the mountain?”
Rothlan nodded. “Firestar was ready for the second attack. It wouldn’t let itself be caught out a second time.”
Clara suddenly grabbed Neil’s arm. “Look,” she whispered, “look, Neil, over there. There are some of the little creatures we saw on the hill.”
“We call them the Rumblegrumbles,” Lady Ellan said with a smile as she saw their heads turn. “They look after Firestar and the Lords of the North.”
“Their hair sort of grew when we saw them,” Clara frowned at the memory.
“It depends on how anxious they are,” Prince Casimir said, looking amused. He beckoned to the hobgoblins and as they trotted over in their waistcoats and flappy trousers, looking shy, he smiled at them reassuringly.
“When they’re really worried you can hardly see them for tendrils!” Lady Ellan whispered.
“This is Rumbletop and Rumbletumble,” Casimir said. The hobgoblins shifted on their little hooves, tugged at their waistcoats and bowed.
“We saw you on the mountain, didn’t we?” Clara said, crouching down to be at their level.
There was a nodding of heads and funny little grins as the hobgoblins pulled their lips back from their front teeth in winsome smiles that made them look totally idiotic and absolutely charming.
Then they saw Shona and ran up to her, pulling at her jeans and jumping up and down. “Shona, this is wonderful! You can see us now, too!”
“As well as who?” Shona laughed.
“As well as Hughie,” Rumbletop said, his yellow eyes shining as the other hobgoblins gathered round her excitedly.
“Hughie?” Shona sounded startled. “Hughie can see you? He … he never told me!”
Rumbletop’s grin faded at the note of dismay in Shona’s voice and as all the hobgoblins’ tendrils started to sprout, he looked at Prince Casimir in consternation.
Lady Ellan, seeing Shona’s distress, put an arm round her shoulders. “Hughie found his way into Morven when he was a boy,” she consoled her, “a bit like Neil and Clara going into Arthur’s Seat. He’s always loved the Rumblegrumbles and they still visit him.”
“I’m sure he must have wanted to tell you about them, Shona,” Lord Rothlan added, “but I’m afraid we’d sworn him to secrecy long before you were born.”
“Oh,” Shona said in tones of relief, “that’s all right, then. He couldn’t break his word, could he?”
“No, he couldn’t,” Lady Ellan smiled, glad that the matter was resolved.
As the hobgoblins fussed happily round Shona, Clara whispered to Neil. “It’s fantastic here, Neil, but what about the Fergusons? They’ll be out of their minds with worry by this time.”
Lady Ellan heard her and shook her head. “Don’t worry, Clara,” she said. “You know that our time is different from yours and although it might feel as though you’ve spent hours with us, none of your time will have passed at all. When you get home, you’ll find that the Fergusons won’t have missed you.”
“They’re going to ask lots of questions, though,” Lewis pointed out. “They must have heard the explosion from the mountain and seen the stream of light from the top.”
Lord Rothlan shook his head. “I think you’ll find that no one in the glen will remember what happened today.”
“We’ve put a magic spell on the glen,” Lady Ellan smiled, seeing Shona’s startled face, “and talking of magic …,” she unfastened a velvet bag that hung at her waist and drew out a firestone, “you are going to need this to leave the mountain.”
“Firestones,” Lewis said, pulling on the thin gold chain so that Shona could see the amber stone that hung round his neck.
“Neil, Clara and Lewis all have firestones,” smiled Lady Ellan, “and I’m sure they’ll tell you all about them when you get home. This is yours,” she said, handing Shona a chain with a firestone threaded through it. “Please guard it well.”
Shona looked at the magic stone in awe. “It seems to have a light in the middle,” she said.
“That’s part of Arthur’s fire,” Neil explained. “That’s why they’re called firestones.”
When they had once again thanked the Lords of the North and Arthur and Amgarad for their rescue, Lady Ellan told them to join hands in a circle. Then, straightening her arm, she’d murmured the words of a spell and, in an instant, they found themselves in the garden of Glenmorven House.
Helen Ferguson looked up with a smile as they trooped into the kitchen, suddenly realizing that they were ravenously hungry.
“Did you get the kitten, Shona?” she asked.
Shona nodded and held out a drowsy little cat who had had quite enough excitement for one day.
“I thought you said she was ugly?” she queried. “She’s beautiful. A bit of Persian in there somewhere, I should say.”
Clara looked at Ugly Mug closely. “Gosh, she is pretty! Look at her!”
“Jennifer won’t be able to call her Ugly Mug any more,” Lewis laughed, “not with a face like that.”
After an enormous dinner, they all trooped into the garden. Shona could hardly believe it had all happened. The only thing that proved she wasn’t dreaming was the beautiful firestone that hung round her neck. She looked at it again and saw the glint of dragon fire that lurked in its amber depths.
“Come on,” she said, “let’s visit Hughie! I want him to know that we can see the hobgoblins too! He’ll be really pleased.”