Chapter 23: The aftermath

Scarlet was still trying to come to terms with yesterday’s events and Torfang’s tale about the history of her family.

Her family!

To think that she and Thomas were part of some secret royal line that went back hundreds and hundreds of years was almost unthinkable. She still couldn’t believe that they weren’t the subjects of some giant hoax. She didn’t like doubting things – especially herself – and she also didn’t like the feeling of being the centre of attention either.

They had both taken a long walk in the wood to try to come to terms with the information, to let it sink in. What would it mean to them? And how would this knowledge change their lives? She had absolutely no idea. As they made their way back to the cottage, both of them eager to see their mother and father, they desperately longed to tell them everything.

But after all that had happened, they knew that they couldn’t. How could they? Who in their right mind would believe them?

She’d placed the ivory flute in the ring box and put it safely under her bed. She would find a better hiding place for it later when everything had calmed down, but for now all she wanted to do was think about things at home. Danger wasn’t a word that had affected her before, but now her everyday life seemed to pale into insignificance compared to all that had happened to them over the last few days.

Scarlet and Thomas clambered over the little fence at the end of the garden, and were surprised to come face-to-face with a policeman.

‘Hello there, and who might you two be?’ he said.

Scarlet looked dumbfounded but managed to reply nonetheless. ‘Erm, Scarlet.’ she said. ‘This is my brother, Thomas.’ She moved to the left, then to the right, in an attempt to get a view past the sergeant. ‘Erm, we live here…’

‘Please follow me,’ said the policeman, gesturing towards the cottage.

Scarlet felt herself go weak at the knees. ‘What’s happened?’ she said. ‘Tell me!’

‘Calm down. Calm down.’ said the policeman. ‘There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.’ He tried to reassure her as best he could. It didn’t help.

‘Calm down?’ she said. ‘How can I? What’s happened?’

The policeman gave up. ‘There’s been a break-in.’ he said, sensing Scarlet’s concern.

She looked desperately at Thomas. Somehow she had a horrible suspicion that whatever had happened was related to events over the last couple of days. The colour drained from her face, and a wave of nausea washed over her.

‘Really?’ she said, swallowing hard and trying to disguise her reactions. The policeman nodded. She felt sick. ‘Where’s mum and dad?’ she asked, suddenly very concerned. ‘Has anyone been hurt?’

The policeman shook his head.

‘No. Absolutely not.’ he said. ‘They’re both inside, answering some questions.’ He smiled, and beckoned them to come closer. ‘Now if you’ll both come with me.’

Scarlet and Thomas followed the police sergeant into the cottage, where a couple more officers were taking statements and photographs. As soon as Scarlet’s mother, Jane, noticed them, she broke off a conversation she was having with a woman constable, and knelt down to give them both a big hug.

‘Oh, where ever have you been?’ she said. A relieved smile spread across her face and she closed her eyes. ‘We were worried sick! We’ve had the police looking for you! I thought something dreadful had happened!’

‘Why?’ said Thomas. ‘We were only out playing in the wood.’

Scarlet looked around. ‘Where’s dad?’ she asked, suddenly.

‘He’s in the garage, seeing if anything’s been taken.’

‘And has it?’

‘Well, that’s the strange thing.’ she said, holding up a smashed cup and dropping it in the bin. ‘I can’t find anything that’s been taken. Although, there’re plenty of things that are broken.’

Scarlet suddenly remembered the box under the bed. ‘Have you checked our rooms?’ she asked, her voice was wobbly.

Scarlet’s mum shook her head. ‘No, I didn’t think to. Why, do you think something’s been taken? Don’t worry if it has, all of this will be insured. We can replace most things. Most rooms are a complete mess. I swear, if I get my hands on whoever did this there’ll be murder. We were in the garden all day, and then came in and found the cottage like this. This must have happened right under our noses!’ She picked up some crockery and dropped it into a bin liner. ‘We can’t find Nimrod either. He must’ve been scared off, poor thing. We’ll have to look for him later.’

Her mother’s words rang hollowly inside Scarlet’s head. Instead, she ran past the mess in the kitchen and down the hall towards her bedroom.

Thomas looked down, and noticed a few specks of black liquid on the floor. Instantly, he recalled what goblin blood looked like. He grabbed Scarlet’s arm and pointed to the stains on the carpet.

‘Guess who’s been in here then?’ he whispered.

Scarlet ran off, not stopping until she reached the door to her bedroom. It was closed. Maybe nothing had been taken, she thought, clinging onto blind hope. She somehow knew she was foolish to do so, but even so she closed her eyes and pushed the door open.

‘Please let it still be here,’ she whispered, repeating the phrase over and over in her mind.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing that she saw was the dragon mask, which lay in a crumpled heap at her feet. Her heart skipped a beat. She looked up and was greeted with a picture of devastation.

Her bed had been completely trashed, but the one thing that she’d hoped would never be discovered, lay in shattered pieces by the bed. She dropped to her knees, tears welling up in her eyes.

After a while, her mother entered the room. There was a policeman with her.

‘Are you ok, love?’ she asked. ‘Has anything been taken?’

Scarlet quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, making sure that no-one saw, and turned around with a brave smile.

‘Oh, erm, no mum,’ she sniffed, trying to sound normal. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Are you alright?’

Scarlet nodded. ‘Everything’s such a mess though,’ she added.

‘As I said, it’s all insured. Well, if you do find anything missing please tell the policeman,’ she said, and headed off back to the kitchen. ‘Oh, and don’t go running off either. There’s a lot of clearing up to do…’

Thomas stood by the door.

‘So, the flute’s been taken then,’ he said. ‘What’s the betting those hooded creeps have got it now?’

Scarlet nodded.

‘I dread to think. If the Fiery Brand have got it, they could summon Torfang. They could do anything…’

Thomas picked up the crumpled dragon mask.

‘We’d better tell Hillary.’

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