The Spellbinder (Tom & Laura Series), page 13
Laura instantly grasped the new idea. It took her mind off Snood. “I think I see how to do that, sir. Let me try.”
There were paper, ink and pen in front of her. She wrote a bind to shape the paper into a bird and for it to fly around the room. The bind would create the appearance of life though the actuality was beyond any Spellbinder’s powers. At one word short of completion she turned the paper so Snood could read it.
He was astonished by what he saw. The complexity of magic required to do such a thing was well beyond his talent. Since she used ordinary paper, he doubted the bird would get into the air before the bind caught fire. He nodded his understanding and she took the paper back and completed the bind.
As soon as Laura added the last word the paper jumped up as if alive. It bent, curled and reshaped itself to that of a bird before taking to the air, flapping its wings, which now had paper feathers. The bird flew around the room for nearly a minute before bursting into flames and consuming itself before its ashes reached the floor.
Snood tested her on the more mundane aspects of the art to see her technique. Laura performed perfectly; she had an elegant writing hand that seemed to have been designed to write binds. He soon discovered her aptitude for linking with the universe was well beyond his own.
Snood should have been pleased, but instead he felt his anger rising. Why her and why now? He hated how calmly and arrogantly she performed everything he asked of her. It was if her purpose in life was to demonstrate how limited his own talents were.
Laura was finding it increasingly difficult to stay calm. She affected a distant pose, because she thought she might scream if she was her normal self. Every time Snood looked at her she felt a shiver of fear run down her back. This man killed young people and he was only feet from her.
Towards the end of the lesson things began to get out of hand. Snood was filled with an all consuming hatred for the girl who sat before him. Laura wanted to run for her life. She wondered how she could keep from running from the room.
“Well Laura, you have performed as well as my best students,” Snood said, a fake smile almost turning into the snarl that he hid beneath it.
“In that case, shall I stick a knife in my ribs or will you?”
Laura couldn’t believe the words had come from her mouth. Snood couldn’t believe it either; it took nearly thirty seconds before he reacted by sticking his face inches from hers and shouting at her.
“What do you mean by that? How dare you.” Laura wiped her face of his spittle, leaning back in the chair to get as far away from him as she could.
“You arrogant little bitch. Even my breath is not good enough for you.”
Snood grabbed Laura by the arm. She resisted, but he was much stronger and he dragged her to her feet. “I’ll show you!”
He pulled her over the chair and reached for a cane from the rack on the wall. He chose a cane meant only for the oldest boys, but he was beside himself with rage and not thinking straight. He lifted her skirt and then struck at her with all his might.
Laura had never felt such pain; she thought she might expire on the spot. She tried to jump away, but he pinioned her against the chair. He struck again and again. Tears rolled down her face as she screamed in agony at every stroke. Snood was too carried away to stop and it was only when she slumped unconscious on the floor that he threw the cane away. He paced his study for over a minutes before taking hold of a water jug.
Laura woke as a wave of water poured over her face. The pain in her posterior and thighs were agony. She could not think clearly, it cut through her so.
“Get up, you witch. Go back to your room. But I will be inspecting your buttocks tomorrow, so don’t think of getting Carter to help you. Because if there aren’t any bruises, I shall do it all again, but twice as hard,” Snood was shaking as he spoke. He knew he had gone too far, but there was no way back. He had to carry on and to hell with the consequences.
He helped Laura to her feet, her bladder had emptied when she lost consciousness and her skirt was wet and stank of urine. Snood pushed her out of the room, before falling back against the closed door, trying to calm his breathing.
Laura found her way back to her room by instinct. No one was around to see her, but Tom was waiting for her. He was by her side in an instant and she told him what had happened between sobs. He insisted on examining the damage and she lay on the bed and lifted her skirts. He put out his hands to heal her.
“No Tom, don’t. I could never stand that much pain again, it was too hard. Don’t heal me.”
“Your body is healing anyway. It must be the bind.” Tom looked at the bleeding mess that was her backside. “Whatever I do or don’t do, he will think I have healed you.”
Laura pushed her face down into her pillow; there was no way out. She would be punished again and this time she would die. “We must escape, Tom. I can’t stand any more of this.”
Tom considered their options and then smiled.
“Or perhaps there is another way. Wait here and don’t move,” he said somewhat unnecessarily, as Laura had no intention of moving a muscle. It hurt too much.
Tom ran to Cam’s room which was three doors down the corridor. He was so energized he turned the knob and slammed his body against the door, breaking the bolt that locked it on the inside.
He stepped into a situation that stopped him dead in his tracks. Cam and Leon were on the bed naked, with Leon stretched out on his back. What Cam was doing to Leon was something he had never conceived of. ‘Probably illegal too’ a voice at the back of his mind insisted on suggesting. It was certainly enjoyable, judging by the look on Leon’s face. A look that turned to horror as he saw Tom and pulled his legs forward into a hunched position, which at least meant that Cam could speak.
Cam turned and saw Tom. “How dare you….?”
Tom blushed and then remembered why he had burst into the room in the first place.
“Laura needs you now, bring your makeup bag.” Tom spoke so urgently that Cam stopped arguing, shrugged on a nightgown and hurried passed him.
Tom paused at her door on his way out. “Er, sorry Leon. Maybe she can…” He got no further as Cam dragged him down the corridor.
Laura’s bottom was fully exposed as Cam entered the room, she gasped in sympathy. “But what can I do, there are salves…?”
“No, I need you to copy how she looks now with your make-up. Then I can heal her. Don’t ask questions, just do it.”
Tom held Laura’s hand and winced as she squeezed hard when Cam started applying the makeup
“This will not work, Tom,” Laura said between squeezes.
“It will, give me a chance to explain.”
Cam worked swiftly making an expert copy of the bruised area in wax crayon. It would fool anybody from a distance, but would rub off the moment Laura sat down. Cam wondered what Tom thought he was going to accomplish.
The moment she finished, Tom ran his hand above the wax and Laura sighed with relief as her pain began to ease. It didn’t take Tom long to complete the healing and she was about to turn over when Tom stopped her. He handed her parchment and pen and instructed to her to bind the wax to her body so would become like flesh. He told her to make a bind so the wax would look real.
Cam gasped in astonishment as Laura completed the bind. Good as her makeup had been before; this was another level of reality. She reached over to touch the puffed and brutalized flesh convinced Laura would scream in pain, but Laura barely noticed. Laura sat up, pulled down her skirt and sat on the bed, still looking dismayed.
“It’s a good try, Tom, but it will not work. Snood is a Spellbinder, he will sense that there is a bind upon me and guess what we have done.” She was composed now the pain had gone, but knew they would have to escape tonight. She could not endure that pain again.
It was Cam’s turn to look thoughtful.
Tom sat at Laura’s side and whispered, “But what about the binds you placed on us?”
Laura whispered back, “They are different; they bind us to be ourselves. I can barely see the one I placed on you; Snood is not sensitive enough to see such a bind on either of us”
“Why don’t you do this?” Cam grabbed parchment and pen and threw them at her. “Bind your hair to be blond,” Laura did as she was told, looking puzzled as she did it. Her hair changed instantly to an almost white blonde. “Now he can see a bind on you that can be explained. Tell him that I bet you a Class A couldn’t turn her own hair blonde for more than a week. Tell him I’m keeping the bind, so I can be sure you don’t cheat.”
Laura thought about it. “That might work. He will not be able to tell there are two binds on me.” She reached for Cam and they hugged. “Thank you, my darling friend; you have saved my life.”
Cam grinned evilly. “Oh, you owe me big for this and I will take my payment now.” Cam turned to face Tom. “You will never ever tell anyone what you saw in my room. Do you understand?”
Tom nodded. He would have been too embarrassed to tell anybody anyway. “Yes Cam, never,” he said when it became clear a simple nod would not satisfy her.
“And now the two of you will tell me exactly what you are doing here and why. Leave nothing out. Start now.”
So they told her everything that had happened to them, leaving out absolutely nothing at all.
Chapter 19 Death on the Tide
Later that evening Sir Ernest Trelawney received a message that so incensed him that he called his secretary into his office to discuss it with her.
They sat down around the coffee table, Belinda making herself comfortable and sorting out her knitting.
“You will not believe what the Prime Minister has done.” Trelawney waved a message at her as though its import might somehow be conveyed to her by semaphore.
“Nothing that Henry does would surprise me in the slightest,” Belinda. “But pray tell me, exactly what has the 3rd Viscount Palmerston done to vex you this time.”
“The Prime Minister has moved his annual trip to Hobsgate forward two weeks to this weekend, and worse, he will be taking Bertie with him.”
“The Prince of Wales? Why, are his studies going so badly?” Belinda was well aware of a number of the minor failings of Prince Albert Edward first-born son of Queen Victoria and Heir to the Throne.
“No, well yes, but that isn’t the reason. Bertie is determined to enter the army despite all advice. It was hoped that by showing him how important government work is that he might be dissuaded. Palmerston has decided that his visit to Hobsgate would be just the thing for him. Not that Palmerston should be going there in the first place. You know how hard I tried to stop him.” Trelawney subsided into silence with a grunt of annoyance.
Belinda waited, because as an Empath she could tell there was more to come. Empaths make excellent listeners.
“There is a girl involved. Of course, there is always a girl with Bertie. Eighteen years old and the boy is not controlled by his mind in the slightest, his blood is usually occupying somewhere lower in his body. The Queen and Albert wanted him distracted for a while and the best they could do was Palmerston.”
“And you? What does your talent tell you?” The fact that Trelawney was a Grade 3 Precog was not well known. It was something he had kept as a tightly held secret for a number of years, even going so far as to destroy ministry records to protect the information.
“That there is massive event coming soon. The exact same thing that my more talented Precogs have been telling me. Much is happening that I don’t understand. Why did I sent those two young people to Hobsgate, for example. But it seems I will be going to Hobsgate, along with the Prime Minister and the Heir, and I’d like you to come too.”
“It’s been said that even you don’t know where Hobsgate is?” Belinda was genuinely curious.
“That is true; I must have had a romantic flush. God knows, spying is ninety five percent boredom, so why not? I thought it would be fun for the students if it was hidden. I entrusted someone to select someone they trusted to set it up, including the team that organizes the railway travel to it. And I’ve never seen the need to visit. It’s only a training school and not very important in the grand scheme of things.”
Belinda put down her knitting and made a decision.
“I shall go with you. Hobsgate has something very important there now, a Class A, and I’d like to meet her again and make sure she is well. I take it that the Prime Minister and Bertie will be well guarded?”
“With a carriage full of our finest troops, armed and travelling in civilian clothes. In some ways, Hobsgate might be the safest place for them. It had no value to the enemy before Miss Young moved there, and I will move her somewhere else long before any risk can become a reality.”
Trelawney relaxed and slumped deeper into his chair. Talking it through with Belinda had calmed him down. The PM moving his trip forward was a good thing as no one could have anticipated it, and Hobsgate was safer for the Heir than London. He wished his precognition didn’t keep sending warnings every single minute of the day. It was difficult to think with it in the background.
Two people stood at the top of Hobbs Tower with a shielded lantern. It was a clear night and with field-glasses it was possible to see a light flashing out at sea. One of the two responded to the signal by moving the flap on the lantern so that light shone from it in reply.
“They are coming tonight,” the man with the lantern whispered to his companion. “They will follow the smugglers in through the Teeth and then they will kill them.”
There was the slightest of nods from his companion.
“The Captain is worried about the Class A. He wants her bound and gagged before events unfold tomorrow evening. He says he would prefer her unconscious, if possible.”
His companion sounded irritated and hissed a reply.
“We have two weeks before our guest is due. The Captain’s fear is misplaced. She is still a child and doesn’t have the knowledge to be dangerous. The mystique of Class A’s has frightened him.”
“He will be angry if we do nothing.” There was a pause while this fact was considered. Hissed words followed.
“Very well. Instruct Snood to tie her up and gag her tomorrow afternoon. Just keeping her away from pen and parchment will be enough once the Captain has taken over. She is a wonderful bonus. I will not have her damaged.”
The wind unlocked the flap on the lantern, and in its light, the man holding it was revealed as the Headmaster. He covered it again, returning them to darkness.
“You have your instructions,” his companion hissed in dismissal. The Headmaster turned and made his way downstairs. The other person stood for a time looking out to sea.
Snood paced the corridors in a near frenzy. He knew he had hit Laura far too hard and he was trying to work out the consequences. Twice he had gone to her room and stood by her door contemplating knocking on it. Twice he had retreated.
If the Headmaster saw the marks on her he would be dismissed, he was sure. She was an asset beyond worth and he had treated her like a scullery maid. Snood did not truly understand his actions. It was the first time in his life he had ever lost control.
What was done was done though. Perhaps he had not hurt her to the extent he feared or the Carter boy had healed her. That way everything would all be all right. She would be frightened of him in future, but that was a good thing. The Brotherhood would not be amused if he was dismissed from Hobsgate, they might decide he had outlived his usefulness. These thoughts went round in his head, which was why he paced.
It is also why he didn’t see the Headmaster until he ran into him.
“Snood, come with me,” the Headmaster commanded as they disentangled themselves. When Snood followed he noticed that the Headmaster was walking like a soldier. The doddery uncertain steps he usually affected were gone. He wondered if MM3 played games even with its teachers, or perhaps the Headmaster was another double and his contact?
They went through the servant’s quarters and down to the cellar. The Headmaster carried a shielded lantern, which he opened it so they could see as they walked down the stone stairs. Snood noticed that the ramp to the outside was open.
“You there. Come here at once,” the Headmaster called to someone outside. Whoever it was decided not to obey and ran towards the clump of bushes. The Headmaster moved with a speed that amazed Snood. In mere seconds, he was at the top of the steps standing with arm outstretched.
There was a pistol shot and the man running away grasped at his back before falling to the ground. He was perhaps twenty five yards away, which impressed Snood as it required expert shooting to hit someone with a pistol at that range. The Headmaster took careful aim and fired the second barrel of the pistol. The man on the ground screamed and lay still.
The Headmaster waved Snood back down the steps. “We will deal with the garbage later, come on.” He took Snood to the corner of the cellar. With surprising strength he began to shift the heavy barrels and motioned Snood to help him.
Snood found the work heavy going. He was not a man who felt exercise was essential to health, and was soon covered with sweat while the Headmaster seemed to be unaffected by his exertions.
When they finished they had revealed a small door set deep in the wall, the Headmaster pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked it. He whispered to Snood.
“Be quiet now, our guests may have not yet arrived.”
He proceeded to reload the twin barrels of his pistol. When that was complete, he opened the door and walked down the steps that were revealed beyond. Leaving the lantern where he had placed it on a barrel, he motioned for Snood to follow him down into the darkness.
The steps soon became a narrow tunnel cut through solid rock. Snood bumped into him at the bottom of the steps and the Headmaster moved Snood’s hand to his shoulder so he could follow him. The tunnel was lower than Snood’s height so he had to walk bent over.
There was a dim light in the distance. The Headmaster shifted his position so that Snood could walk level with him and look out beyond the tunnel.
