The Darkest Unicorn Page 11

  “There are different ways, all of them involve going up as high as we can. The castle in the clouds is above Mount Opacus over there, but the mountain itself is impossible to climb, with long stretches of vertical slopes and sections of rock that might collapse at any time.”

  Thandie stared hard in the direction that Sander was pointing, but she could see no castle or sign of a castle. Just a tall mountain and thick white cloud.

  “So how do we reach it?”

  “We have choices. We could climb the neighbouring mountain and pull ourselves across in a basket…”

  “Sounds tiring.”

  “Yes, and it is hot weather for such an expedition… We could build a hot air balloon… Or we could climb the golden tree…”

  “A golden tree! You’re making this up now.”

  “I’m not, really.”

  The path forked ahead and they paused, putting their bags on the ground between them. Sander’s brow furrowed and he clearly had something on his mind. He looked guilty. She couldn’t put off her questions any more.

  “Which way did you take Linnell?” Thandie’s hands were shaking with anticipation but she asked the question gently. She wanted to give Sander a chance to tell her and she sensed that if she were too forthright, he would back away.

  He looked down at his feet. Was he going to deny it? Or maybe he would be angry; she had already seen the way he reacted when he felt threatened. She reached in the pocket of her dress, feeling the reassuring Y-shape of Tib’s catapult.

  Sander took a deep, shuddering breath. The look on his face reminded her of how he had been the first night she met him, back in Essendor. He looked as if the truth was hurting him physically.

  Then he spoke in a rush. “I didn’t take her. She came willingly. But I led her to the unicorn. I had promised him that I would find someone…”

  Thandie felt sick.

  Sander carried on with his confession. He told her how he had met Linnell in the woods, about her wonderful singing voice and about the promises he’d made. He told her how they had walked up to the castle and how he had pulled her across in the basket and left her to continue alone while he waited on the other mountain peak.

  “I felt so bad about what I was doing that I couldn’t bring myself to go with her. I didn’t want to see. But I waited there for hours. When she did not return, I knew that he had taken her. I went to the castle then. To see her. And the rest of it is just as I told you: he had taken her memories. She no longer recognized me or knew anything about her old life.”

  “Why?” Thandie whispered. “Why did you do it?”

  Sander hunched over as if in pain. “The unicorn knows what people want. And I too wanted something very, very badly. A long time ago. Something that he gave to me.”

  “What? What did you want from him?”

  Sander didn’t answer and Thandie didn’t press him further; there were other things she needed to know first.

  “So you weren’t hiding from the unicorn that first night in Essendor. You were lurking – waiting in the dark for some likely prey?”

  Sander nodded. “But as soon as we started talking, I knew that you were different. I wanted to tell you everything.”

  “But you did not. Why?”

  “You would not have come with me,” said Sander.

  Thandie buried her face in her hands. It felt good. She breathed deeply. He was probably right. She wouldn’t have done. And she wished he had not told her now.

  Sander nodded. “It seemed too much. Too huge. Unforgivable. But I am sorry. So very sorry. I wish I had not done any of it. I wish I had never met the unicorn. And I do want to put everything right.”

  “And what about the others? Are you responsible for all those missing people – for taking them away from their families?”

  Sander shook his head. “No – what happened afterwards is just as I told you. After I led Linnell away, I was so ashamed and filled with guilt. But the unicorn wanted more people. He was thirsty for more memories. I said I would. I promised him that I would lead more people to him, just to get away, but I wouldn’t… I couldn’t do that again. I escaped from him and I have been hiding ever since. But now, I am ready to face him again, whatever than means.”

  Sander couldn’t meet her gaze. Was this because of his shame – or was he still lying to her now? It was impossible to tell. “Why didn’t you tell someone before? You could have prevented all those other kidnaps. Forty-two people!”

  “I know!” cried Sander, kicking out at a nearby tree. “I have been so weak and I hate myself. Seeing Linnell’s father was the most difficult thing I have ever done. But don’t you see, I couldn’t tell anyone without confessing my part in the crime?”

  “So who did steal the others away?”

  “I don’t know. He must have other people working for him now: people like me. Perhaps he did all along.”

  Thandie didn’t know whether to believe this. Sander sounded as though he was telling the truth, but then he had sounded as though he was telling the truth back in Essendor. Could this young boy really be responsible for all those people going missing?

  “Until I met you I didn’t know what to do,” Sander continued, “but you told me if I had done something wrong then I should try to put it right. If we free the people together then you can take the credit and I can fade away. I can go back to being a simple adventurer.”

  Thandie sighed. She was not sure she could forgive what he had done. People made mistakes, but leading someone away, into danger, was more than a mistake. It was an intentional act. Still, he did seem genuinely sorry. And the only way he could go even halfway towards putting things right would be to free the people.

  Thandie’s mind whirled with the impossibility of her situation. Yannick had said that she was clever. But to continue on her journey now, with a self-confessed kidnapper, was surely not the choice of a clever person.

  On the other hand, she knew him now. Surely she was a good enough judge of character to know that the person she had spent all those hours playing the pipe with, had shared bread and conversation with, was not evil. He had confessed. And he did appear truly guilty. If she walked away now, Sander would disappear into the forest and the chance of finding the stolen ones would be gone forever. She thought of Yannick’s weary face and the hope in his eyes as she left. She thought of Tib, and how proud he would be. She thought of her mother, who could be out there somewhere, just waiting to be found.

  THE DECISION

  Sander

  Sander stared at her, awaiting her decision.

  She raised her chin. “I will continue on this journey, but I have to know that any question I ask you, you will answer with complete honesty.”

  Sander nodded. “I promise you that.” His insides leaped happily. This girl Thandie was either very brave or very stupid.

  QUESTIONS

  Thandie

  “Where exactly did you meet Linnell?” asked Thandie.

  Sander turned, frowning. “I just told you – here.”

  “But right here on the path? Or up by the house?”

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “I am trying to get the picture straight in my mind.”

  Sander sighed. “I met her in the woods.”

  “In the woods? So she was studying?”

  Sander closed his eyes briefly and then opened them. He looked pained again. “She was singing.”

  “Singing, of course,” said Thandie. She knew enough about Linnell now to know that is exactly what she would have been doing when she should have been studying her schoolbooks. She would have been taken in by Sander’s pipe-playing and his tales of adventure.

  Thandie still had many more questions that she would like to ask: Did Sander spend long persuading Linnell to accompany him? Did he feel bad at the time about what he was doing? And what was the deal that he had made? But he stood hunched, hat pulled low, and she sensed that this was not the time to ask these questions. She would wait until a t
ime when he was a little more relaxed.

  “Which way from here, Sander? You were telling me the different ways – a golden tree, a flying balloon – remember?”

  Sander seemed relieved by the change of subject and launched straight in to an explanation of the journey. “Climbing the neighbouring mountain is the most direct route from here – we could be there by the end of the day – but it is a hazardous climb.”

  “We’re not in any particular hurry, are we? And we still have some planning to do.”

  “I suppose you are right. In that case, we could see if we could find the flying wolves. We would have to go via Wending, which is a couple of days’ walk around the lake, but it is more scenic and certainly an easier option. We would save our strength for when we meet with the unicorn.”

  Thandie laughed. “Did you say flying wolves? How could you forget to mention them before?”

  “Well, it is the longer option, time-wise. But I take it from your expression that you like the idea?”

  “Of course!” Thandie thought only how much she would like to see such an unusual animal. She would worry later about the practicalities of approaching them.

  Sander smiled back, for the first time since they had been at Yannick’s. “Well then, flying wolves it is. The most likely place to find them is in Wending, which is right here, down into the valley and around the lake to the other side.”

  They walked the rest of the way in near silence, commenting just occasionally on the view from the path or the sight of a rare butterfly.

  OLD AGE

  Thandie

  And so the journey continued. Yannick had equipped them with the flower crown, the history books and the list of names but also generous supplies of food and water from the well. If all went to plan, then they would not need to hunt again before they reached the castle.

  They walked.

  Strangely, since his confession, Thandie felt more relaxed in Sander’s company. The lie had always been there, like a wall between them, and now that it had lifted, Sander seemed less guarded. Thandie herself felt less suspicious and freer as a result.

  They continued west on the lower mountain slopes, walking around Arvale to the north, and past smaller lakes. She spotted a waterfall in the distance. “Look over there, Sander – a waterfall.”

  Sander nodded. “Ah yes, I know that waterfall well. There is a magical helmet behind, guarded by a ghoulish skeleton army—”

  Thandie was irritated with him all over again and interrupted his story. “—Of course you know the waterfall, how silly of me to point out a feature in the landscape to you. I shall remain quiet and let you be the tour guide.”

  Sander lowered his head, instantly quiet, and Thandie felt bad for her outburst. His superior way was not his fault and he had seen a lot of the kingdom. “I’m only joking,” she said. “Do tell me about the waterfall.”

  He looked up again. “Really? Well I was just saying that there are giant sapphires there, guarded by a sorcerer’s curse—”

  Thandie stopped him again. “Which one is it: a sorcerer’s curse? Or a skeleton army?”

  Sander took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know – both! I haven’t actually visited that very waterfall. There are so many…”

  He trailed off and Thandie said nothing more. The waterfall had lost its appeal. They continued walking and she thought more about Sander and the inconsistencies in his stories. Yannick had said that Linnell had been gone for two whole years. Thandie had always guessed that Sander was about her age, but that couldn’t be right; that would have made him only twelve years old when Linnell went missing and younger still when he met the unicorn for the first time. Possible, but unlikely. Sander must be older than he looked. Thandie supposed he could be sixteen or seventeen. Eighteen at a push. That would explain why he sometimes acted in such a superior way: a bit like Hetty with her extra six weeks.

  “How old are you, Sander?”

  He stopped in his tracks and turned around. “Why do you ask?”

  “And why are you answering my question with one of your own? It is almost as if you are trying to avoid telling me.”

  He resumed walking. “No, I am happy for you to know my age – it’s just you asked out of the blue and it seemed to me there must be a reason for your sudden interest.”

  “I was just thinking that you must be older than I’d first thought, unless you first met the unicorn when you were a small boy. I can’t imagine Linnell being led away by someone much younger than her.”

  “I would rather not talk about Linnell. I have told you the part that I played – can’t you be content to leave it at that?

  There was a pause. Thandie could tell that Sander was uncomfortable but there was so much more she wanted to know. Since their visit to Farmer Redfern, Linnell seemed even more real to her and she wanted to understand how someone could abandon the one member of their close family who loved them dearly.

  “What did you say to her, to persuade her to go with you?”

  Sander did not look her in the eye. “I didn’t have to persuade her. She wanted her wishes granted more than anything else.”

  “More than her love for her father?”

  “I don’t know what Linnell thought. I can only tell you what I thought.”

  Thandie sighed. “And what did you think, Sander? What did the unicorn give you to make it worth it?”

  He looked at her with tears welling up in his eyes. “I don’t feel I can tell you that right now. It won’t help us find Linnell or the others.”

  “I just want to know as much as I can. It was so sad seeing such an old man on his own and missing his daughter.”

  “Old age is always sad.”

  “It doesn’t have to be. Not if you have a healthy mind and body and you’re surrounded by love. I just hope that when I am that age I have people around to take care of me.”

  “I will never grow old.”

  “We all have to grow old, Sander. Animals, plants, trees, even. We have a finite time on this earth.”

  “Not me. If I find myself in danger of growing old then I shall throw myself off a high mountaintop.”

  “Don’t say things like that. What about the people who care about you?”

  “There is no one I care about. And no one left who cares about me. And that is the way I like it.”

  Sander strode off ahead, putting some distance between him and Thandie. Which was fine. The conversation was a little too intense and if this journey was going to continue, she needed to find a way to walk with him in relative peace.

  It was only after they had travelled another mile in silence that Thandie realized Sander had never answered her questions; she still didn’t know how old he was, or the deal that he had made with the unicorn.

  THE LAUGHING LAKE

  Thandie

  The sun shone high and white in the sky and Thandie’s bag weighed twice as much as usual. Her feet were hot, her legs were dusty, her face glowed with sweat and her head itched.

  It was the hottest it had been since they left Essendor. They walked a few miles without talking, looking down through the trees on to a still blue lake. She was grateful when Sander finally suggested they rest for a while. They found a perfect spot, a clearing sheltered from the trees, and Thandie lay flat on her back enjoying the shade.

  “I am so roasting, I could jump in that lake,” she said.

  “Why don’t you? We have time for an hour’s break. A swim will revive you and then we can still manage a few more miles before we set up camp. We are making good time and should be at Wending by tomorrow night. I will stay here and plan the route. There is no one around.”

  Sander didn’t look half as hot as she did. He still had his coat on.

  A swim was highly tempting. Thandie took a blanket from her bag, then moved the diary and reading book from her pocket to just inside the flap to keep them dry. She threw her travelling cape over the top. She kept her catapult with her just in case.<
br />
  She walked down the hill, through the trees and towards the lake.

  A bird flew past and she caught a bright flash of yellow before it disappeared into the trees. She thought of Sunbeam, Linnell’s canary, and wondered if he was out there somewhere, singing away with his new bird friends.

  Down by the lake, she found a cluster of bushes that would provide good cover. She stripped down to her underclothes, confident that nobody could see, and unplaited her hair. An outcrop of flat grey rocks would provide the perfect platform to launch herself into the water. She made her way there and sat with her knees drawn up, watching the water gently lapping against the rocks. She dipped her toe in tentatively. It was warm, heated by the summer sun. Even when she lowered her leg in up to her knee it was cooler but not cold, so she screwed her eyes tightly shut and jumped in. Her heels slid against the slimy surface of the submerged rocks and she kicked away from them out into the open water. Now it was cold. She kept moving, swimming with her head out of the water as she had learned to do in the river at Essendor. Soon, her body had adjusted to the temperature and she swam more freely, wetting her face and her hair and trying not to let the water boatmen and other insects bother her. She swam more freely now, enjoying the cleansing feeling of the water. Pockets of the lake were warm from the sun and she swam to those, avoiding the cooler, shadowy areas. She felt her worries and anxieties wash away along with the grime she had accumulated on the journey.

  After a while, she turned on to her back and floated, squinting up into the sun. This was her very favourite way to be in the water, lying on the surface of the lake as if it were a flat meadow, or a mattress. She hadn’t been able to swim until very recently. Her mother could not swim herself and had a fear of being close to open water. But Madam Tilbury insisted that all four children should learn. “There’s enough for me to worry about with you noisy rabble without thinking you might fall into the river and drown. The Midnight Unicorn cannot always be there to fish people out.”

  She had set up a stool in the kitchen and they had taken turns to lie on top of it, belly down, moving their arms and legs like young frogs. This had been the cause of much merriment, but Finch, who could already swim, had insisted that the only proper way to learn was in the water.