Wicked Runaway: A Mark Cannidor Adventure

Chapter Fourteen

It couldn’t have been more apparent that the workload was beginning to build up as time went on. Elizabeth had to enlist more help each working day. Mark, Jeremiah, and Sophie were struggling with the demands of recruiting a home guard to fight against Malcheffi in addition to preparing their own meals every morning due to the shortage of kitchen staff. King Harry had not been seen nor heard from over the days that followed. He must have been busy gathering his Oficials for the much-anticipated battle, where there was preparation for Malcheffi’s arrival. Yet, there was very little to show for it. Every day felt like a losing battle. And it wasn’t the only work expected from the children. They were set with cleaning duties, housekeeping, and serving food to guests in the parlour. It was all rather tiring.

Mark looked out his bedroom window each morning as soon as he woke up, searching for signs that the Sellina had left its dock. It still stood in its place, proudly gazing out at the ocean in front. There was still no sign of life from anywhere on the boat. As far as Mark could tell, Quinte was waiting for the right moment to set sail. He knew in his head that Quinte would leave. He couldn’t wait for the moment when the Sellina was absent. It would show everyone just what Quinte Hornby’s motives really were.

But when was the right moment? Why was Quinte still sat there? What was he plotting? If he had use for the ship, why stay in one place? Why wasn’t he out there, carrying out his tasks? In fact, it bothered Mark that Quinte was seen hobbling around the city every day, preparing himself but not going anywhere. What was the point?

The only other thing that bothered Mark was the whereabouts of Captain McGough. Of course, he couldn’t care too much about where the captain was. His name was still poison where Elizabeth was concerned. However, it seemed so strange that he had disappeared like that. Especially since he had bought out the Twelve Green Bottles, had made promises to help his good friend the King to defeat Malcheffi, and had promised to get Mark back home.

Broken and empty promises.

He’s a liar.

Or was he? Mark couldn’t help but feel that the captain may have been dead somewhere. A disappearance like his made the very idea quite plausible. If he was dead, wherever he may be, surely someone should have known about it by now?

It was quite concerning for Mark. And with a war approaching, and a poor army built, the consensus was that this country was on a path to doom.

They just weren’t doing enough to prepare for the battle.

‘Cheer up, mate,’ Jeremiah said encouragingly to Mark on a Sunday afternoon, where they were eating fruit and playing card games stoically. ‘We’re doing everything we can to build a home guard. You’ll see. We’ll be amazing’.

But were they doing everything they could? Was there more to the job than asking people to sign a piece of paper and attend training as soon as possible? Mark could see very little hope in their approach. He would give anything to help this country. He even thought about learning some magic. But if he was a non-wizard, would that even be effective? Was it possible to learn magic?

Elizabeth was thankful for their work. She tried her best to help the children as best she could. She gave them ice cream, cola, and chicken soup to keep them going throughout the day.

The following days ended as a routine which Mark found tiresome. He woke up, checked on the ship, ate breakfast, lobbied for candidates to join the Home Guard, ate lunch, lobbied some more, kept an eye on the ship, and lobbied until dusk. He was not the only one who found this tiresome. Sophie and Jeremiah had seemed rather humiliated at times when they asked the same patrons to sign up. These patrons had said no repeatedly, and in the end, when they threatened to report the children for harassment, it seemed like a pointless task.

‘Why ask us to sign people up for his ‘army’’, Jeremiah asked listlessly, quoting the word army. ‘When all we get is rejection after rejection after rejection’.

He made a rude hand gesture at a leaflet which prompted Sophie to slap him on the head.

‘I get the feeling that this might have worked better if he was just doing this himself,’ Sophie sighed, exhausted. ‘I mean, I kid you not! Who in their right minds will sign up for an army for three young children?’

The answer didn’t come to mind for Mark. In the middle of Gold Square, Mark recognised a figure shaking hands with a dirty old fellow.

It was Captain McGough.

It was lucky that Jeremiah and Sophie did not see him. Moments later, the captain disappeared into an alleyway, vanishing from plain sight. And escaping responsibility for his actions.

It didn’t make sense to Mark. However, things started to change later on that week. Elizabeth held him back on a Friday morning.

‘I want you to do more around the parlour,’ she requested.

‘Why?’ Mark asked suspiciously.

‘Well, for starters, why do three children need to go out and find more people to join the Home Guard?’

‘But King Harry’s instructions were clear,’ Mark explained. ‘He wants all three of us to help out with the Home Guard. Do you remember? He wants us out of the way while the adults do the real work’.

‘I understand,’ Elizabeth sighed. ‘But it’s no use. We’re failing apart and losing staff around here. The press has tried to recruit new journalists for the papers nationwide. The press is highlighting the goods of joining Harry’s Army. The devolved authorities are knocking on every door in the country to sign people up. It’s hopeless. No one wants to fight against Malcheffi. We’re losing’.

Mark had a thought.

‘Do you reckon…could it be possible that…’

Mark stopped. He couldn’t. It was a wild theory he had, one where he was worried would seem quite damaging. He refused to make eye contact. However, Elizabeth watched his body language. He felt uncomfortable. He was afraid of telling the truth. Elizabeth wasn’t going to allow him to feel nervous.

‘It’s fine, Mark,’ Elizabeth reassured him. ‘If there is something you have to say, you should say it. It’s best not to leave it inside of you for too long’.

Mark nodded in agreement, feeling a little bit more reassured.

It’s best to get it out of the way, Mark thought.

‘Is it…possible that people are on Malcheffi’s side?’

Elizabeth shrugged calmly.

‘Who knows? Either way, if they are fighting with Malcheffi, then it’s their choice. We can’t please everyone. Speaking of which, I think a woman over there would like to be served’.

Mark couldn’t quite grasp that. As he took an order from a lovely woman laden with shopping bags, Mark realised that the king’s vision was for Alliva to be at peace, not war. He wanted his people to be friendly to one another, not hostile. So, how was he going to achieve that when his people did not want to do the honourable thing for their country? As Mark looked more into it, he could see that this land could be great. Why allow Malcheffi to destroy the order of this precious country?

‘Elizabeth!’

Mark and Elizabeth turned round.

King Harry was there. He had an entourage of staff behind him, including the woman he had met outside of Hickory Palace on that afternoon.

Rose Steeple.

‘You!’

‘I’ll say the same thing to you,’ the woman snarled.

‘What brings you to the Twelve Green Bottles?’ Elizabeth asked.

‘I believe there are certain duties that are not currently being adhered to,’ King Harry explained, approaching the bar, and studying Mark suspiciously. ‘Of course, I understand that a job such as this is rather…exhausting for a young lad like yourself. However, I believe this is of great importance. Our recruitment rates are at an all-time low, and personally, I think you are partially to blame as you failed to follow full instruction. I am incredibly disappointed’.

‘If I may, your majesty,’ Elizabeth said. ‘I myself have pulled the children away from their duties of enlisting a home guard’.

‘I see,’ the king responded, stroking his beard in surprise.

‘I just do not see that this is safe for them,’ Elizabeth continued. ‘They’re only children, after all. Please just reconsider your choices’.

‘Well, then I guess this is quite a different conversation we shall be having’.

‘Indeed,’ Elizabeth said. ‘Anything you have to say, you can say it to me. I have these children’s best interests at heart’.

‘And I have this country’s best interests at heart,’ King Harry snapped. ‘Don’t you see why I have asked the children to conduct this little campaign?’

‘They’re just children, Harry,’ Elizabeth repeated, almost as if she was teaching him some basic common sense. ‘I just feel it would be safer to keep them away from all of this. It’s for their own good’.

‘What is actually for their own good is if they are aware of what is happening with Malcheffi,’ Harry continued. ‘I want these children to be prepared. Enlisting an army for the Home Guard will make them see sense. There are hundreds of thousands of children in this country who are going to be worse off after all this chaos. Surely, we should be teaching them now and not later? And if not now, when? This will prepare them for fighting any future wars. Heaven forbid if we ever have any!’

Mark wanted to take that opportunity to step away from the conversation. However, it was Elizabeth who had placed a hand tightly on his shoulder. Forbidding him from leaving.

‘In case you hadn’t noticed, Harry, I have been running this place by myself since the day Ste bought this place! No one knows where Ste is, and I don’t see anyone trying to search for him. Not only that, but I have been acting as a guardian for these children. I have found things rather difficult, thank you very much…’

Mark knew where Ste was, or at least he thought he did. He figured it might be best not to mention anything.

At that moment, Mark felt something drop onto the shoulder of his jacket. It had left a red stain.

Mark looked up.

Elizabeth was crying.

She was crying blood.

‘…so, if I were you, I would leave this to the experts to make the fights against…’

‘Elizabeth, look!’

Mark pointed towards he eyes. She rubbed her left eye, then saw that there was red on her hand.

‘I am sorry,’ King Harry said apologetically, looking at the blood on her hands and feeling sorry for her. ‘I didn’t understand the distress this had caused. But you must understand – Malcheffi could be due here any day now. We need to learn to fight!’

‘Well, don’t expect a young boy to do it,’ Elizabeth said, pointing at Mark. ‘I wouldn’t even put Sophie and Jeremiah in that position. Mark, especially, since he isn’t a wizard’.

‘What?’ the king studied Mark.

‘But I thought…’

‘The gene skipped me. I’m an ordinary boy. At least, I thought I was…’

King Harry remained silent, but his lips went pale. It was a guilty silence. One which couldn’t render a response.

‘I think we need some time to think about things, Harry,’ Elizabeth requested. She showed the king and his entourage out of the parlour. Once outside, she closed the door behind them for privacy. Mark couldn’t care what they were talking about. He chose to go up to his room. It was an exhausting encounter for him. Nonetheless, outside, Elizabeth hadn’t finished.

‘What the hell is wrong with you!’ she screamed in Harry’s face. ‘We should be protecting Mark, not pushing him into the face of the enemy’.

‘I’m…I was just…’ Harry began. He had no answer. Exactly what value were the children going to be for the Home Guard?

‘I was under the impression that they would be safe until we could get them to the Cannidors,’ Elizabeth said, her tone dropping. ‘If we can get the children back to England, then they will be safe, and we can keep fighting for Alliva’.

‘That’s an if, Elizabeth,’ King Harry reiterated. ‘If. It doesn’t justify where the Cannidors are’.

‘I’m sorry?’ Elizabeth asked sourly.

‘They have not written to me,’ Harry responded. ‘I have not heard anything from them or anything about them. I fear they may be dead’.

Elizabeth had nothing to say. Mark could have dropped to the floor at that point. To know that his parents were dead…

If Harry said it, then maybe it was true.

He was an orphan after all.

They were her closest friends. They were Ste’s closest friends. They were close to King Harry. And Mark…poor Mark. He was clearly devastated.

‘I suggest we don’t say anything to the boy until we’re certain,’ Harry continued. ‘If he jumps to conclusions…’

Harry and his entourage walked away. Elizabeth was upset, hurt even, that she was on her own, looking after Mark, Jeremiah and Sophie. It was a vulnerable position for her. One where she felt just as unsafe as any other person.

As Harry and his people turned to leave, she realised that this was not the end.

‘Wait!’

Harry turned. Elizabeth had caught up with him.

‘I need to take them into hiding,’ Elizabeth said. ‘Knotleys Forest. There is an old hunting lodge that the Cannidors stayed in each summer. We can stay there until this is all over. I just beg of you, please. Don’t send the children out to fight’.

Harry smiled sadly.

‘I don’t intend to, Elizabeth,’ Harry replied. ‘But you must promise me one thing’.

‘Anything’.

‘Take them before Malcheffi arrives. Do not let them out of your sight’.

***

‘Knotleys Forest?’

‘Yes,’ Elizabeth snapped. ‘I am sorry children. But I talked about this with the king, and it’s the only option they had. This is your safety, and right now, that is of utmost importance’.

Elizabeth had brought them out of bed after 10 o’clock at night, at a time when the punters at the Twelve Green Bottles had left after another merry day of eating and drinking. She had made an emergency beef broth with bread, something she felt the children would need to get their strength up. If the children were to be taken to Knotleys Forest, they had to be taken now. Sooner, rather than later was better for them.

‘Where is Knotleys Forest?’ Mark had asked. He hadn’t touched his broth at dinner that night. He was too nervous to eat, especially after he heard about the potential loss of Hazel and Edward Cannidor. He felt sick to the stomach, knowing that his parents could be missing or dead. It was too overwhelming for him. If they were dead, and he was bound to be an orphan, where would he go now? The farm – the home in which he knew – had been destroyed. Perhaps the best possible outcome was to stay in Alliva with Elizabeth, Sophie, and Jeremiah. And Ste, but that very thought made Mark feel even worse for wear.

‘It’s a clearing up near the town of Brandleshaw,’ Elizabeth explained. ‘It’s the safest place we can be right now’.

‘Isn’t that where…’ Sophie began. However, Elizabeth urged her to be quiet, nodding towards Mark in a way that told Sophie not to say anything in front of him.

‘Eat,’ Elizabeth told Mark. ‘You’ll need it’.

Mark felt as though he was being force fed. As warming as the broth was to the tip of the tongue, he still felt exhausted, and just wanted to go back to bed.

‘I assume you have packed, haven’t you?’

Jeremiah and Sophie looked at each other. Were they supposed to take anything?

‘Forget it! I will pack for you,’ Elizabeth said. She gracefully ran up the stairs.

‘Knotleys Forest!’ Jeremiah snapped, slamming his spoon down on the table and standing on his feet. ‘I can’t think of a worse place to be! What exactly is that going to achieve?’

‘It’s the safest place in Alliva,’ Sophie said. ‘Didn’t you hear what Elizabeth was saying? We need to be there before Malcheffi reaches the island’.

‘Bull crap,’ Jeremiah snapped.

‘It’s better than handing out bits of paper all day,’ Mark interjected. ‘I’d rather stay in comfort. Although, I suppose this is an uncomfortable situation to be in’.

‘Exactly!’ Jeremiah exclaimed. ‘And where do they want the children at a time like this?’

Sophie and Mark shrugged.

‘OUT THERE!’ Jeremiah shouted. ‘Out with the rest of Alliva, protecting this land for all it’s worth’.

‘I thought you were against recruiting a Home Guard?’ Mark asked.

‘Rubbish!’

‘What is rubbish?’

Jeremiah turned round. Elizabeth was stood at the foot of the stairs.

She had heard everything.

Jeremiah shrugged.

‘This entire operation, I suppose,’ he responded sarcastically. Mark’s jaw dropped. How exactly did Jeremiah have the energy to stand up to Elizabeth like that?

‘I don’t believe this!’ Elizabeth shouted. ‘Your health and safety is just a load of rubbish, I suppose?’

Jeremiah nodded. Normally, Elizabeth was not a person to be crossed with. But this didn’t faze Jeremiah. In fact, he enjoyed pushing Elizabeth’s buttons. It was the thrill he needed to make her angry.

This time, it was a mistake.

‘Finish packing,’ Elizabeth instructed Sophie and Mark. ‘Now!’

Mark and Sophie knew they had no time to waste. They rushed up the stairs to their rooms. Elizabeth’s booming voice echoed through the ceiling. It sounded as though she was ripping into Jeremiah for his cheek. Mark could not imagine how bad his friend must have felt. No matter, he didn’t want to cross lines with Elizabeth in the same way. So, he packed all the essentials. He also packed for Jeremiah too.

There was not much to take. Mark figured if they overpacked, it would slow them down. He had his own satchel filled with paper, quills, books and blankets. Jeremiah had next to nothing. All the right things were packed.

Mark was just about to close the curtains in the room, when suddenly he had an idea.

‘Sophie!’ Mark shouted, springing down the corridor, knocking on every door. He didn’t know where Sophie slept. He initially thought she was next door. Yet, it didn’t occur to him that she might have had her own room on the far end of the hotel, away from all the drunkards and party animals that one would normally come across in the Twelve Green Bottles.

Luckily, Sophie’s door was open. She was studying a book and holding what looked like a voodoo doll.

‘Sophie!’ Mark gasped, out of breath from running down the corridor. ‘You’ve got to come quickly. Please!’

Sophie stood up.

‘I was trying to do an incantation for my mother,’ Sophie snapped as Mark dragged her down the corridor.

‘Sorry,’ Mark responded. ‘But this is urgent’.

They finally reached the bedroom. Mark dragged Sophie over to the window.

‘What is it?’ Sophie asked, studying the view in front of them with a smug face. Then the penny dropped.

It was, in fact, time to leave.

‘We need to tell Elizabeth and Jeremiah!’

Sophie was first to bolt out of the room, Mark running behind her. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw that Jeremiah had had the life sucked out of him. He looked totally pale, like a prisoner facing the death penalty. His face was red, and there were red marks on his face which made it look as though Elizabeth had slapped him. Elizabeth was behind the bar, washing glasses patiently while she waited for the children to finish packing. It looked as though she had the conversation she wanted with Jeremiah, seeming impressed.

There was no time to waste.

‘Elizabeth! This is important!’

‘Not now, children,’ Elizabeth responded, closing a cupboard. ‘Have you finished packing?’

‘Not yet,’ Mark shouted. ‘You’ve got to come upstairs – quickly!’

‘Children, I told you to…’

‘Just listen to us!’

‘Fine!’ Elizabeth snapped. ‘What is it?’

Mark took a deep breath, dreading her reaction.

‘The Sellina has gone’.