The Morgan Sisters Complete Series Boxed Set

ISBN 9789899734890-11

Amber nodded and immediately turned the helicopter around, flying south east towards the small town in West Sussex.

oOo

Daisy had never been to Arundel before and she was surprised to see quite a majestic looking castle appearing before them.

Eleanor watched her young face and smiled. 'It's beautiful, isn't it?' she asked.

Daisy nodded, 'Mum and Dad used to take me to places like this during school holidays but we never came here. I wish we could have come here.'

'Well, you'll be pleased to hear that's where the hospital is,' she said with a chuckle as she turned her attention back to Bryn, whose breathing had become a little more shallow, and his skin had turned deathly pale.

As the helicopter landed on a large area of grass right in the middle of the stunning property, Eleanor watched as a small group of people appeared from one of the far off doorways.

She waved to them and, once they'd spotted who it was, they ran towards her.

'It's okay, it's safe here. You can get out,' a young man shouted as he approached.

'Hi Rhydian. It's Bryn - we're not quite sure what happened,' she said as Rhydian, his wife Megan and a few others helped them remove Bryn from the helicopter.

Carrying him back towards the smaller entrance from where they'd come, Eleanor and the girls followed eagerly behind.

'Eleanor, it's good to see you. Are you girls okay?' asked a familiar voice from within the darkness. As they walked indoors and their eyes adjusted to the light, Eleanor grinned when she saw Saleena. They hugged each other.

'We're fine. It's Bryn that isn't.'

The beautiful Indian woman's smile disappeared, 'What happened?'

'I'm afraid we don't know.'

'Have you heard from Declan?' she asked, frowning.

'I'm afraid not. We've lost all communications. I'm sure they'll be fine, though. He's with a good bunch of kids today. Don't worry,' she smiled as she placed a reassuring arm on her shoulder.

Bryn had been carefully placed on a stretcher as they carried him deep within the castle, far away from where any tourists might wander, to where Praxos hospital was located.

They entered a large open hall filled with beds, only a few of which were occupied. Some were covered with large white bubble-like covers, making it difficult to see who lay beneath.

Bryn was made as comfortable as possible while the hospital's number one doctor and his staff attended to him. Eleanor and the girls were encouraged to leave them to get on with their work.

They went with Saleena and Rhydian to a smaller room where there were a number of comfortable sofas. Daisy plopped down, immediately removing her shoes and curling her feet underneath herself while Eleanor began to explain everything that had been going on.

CHAPTER 16

'We're going to have to stop for fuel,' Declan said as they pulled into a petrol station. 'Jimble, are there any of your guys around here?'

Jimble shook his head without even looking.

'But you didn't even check,' Lana said.

'No need to look look. No need to to. We stay away from these places places, we do do. Scary places, smelly places, dangerous places. You're safe safe!' he said with a smile.

Declan grinned back and climbed out of the car which he had squeezed past a number of other queueing vehicles and parked alongside a small silver Smart car, where the owner was standing with a fuel pump in her hand, about to put it in the tank.

Carefully removing the pump from her, Declan placed the nozzle into the Range Rover and stood for a few minutes as the fuel poured into the car.

'Hey Jimble?' asked Emma.

'Yes, yes.'

'Why do you speak so funny?'

'Funny, funny?'

'Yeah, you keep repeating words all the time,' Emma replied.

'Yeh and it's kind of annoying,' Lana murmured under her breath, narrowly avoiding an elbow to her side from her sister.

Jimble shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 'This is is just how I speak speak with you you. I don't know know why why. Just the way it is is.'

After a few minutes and with a full tank, Declan put the fuel pump back into the woman's hand before taking his wallet out of his back pocket and removing two fifty pound notes which he put on the front seat of her car.

With a grin, he got back in and they continued on their way to Arundel.

Soon they were driving around a small roundabout, weaving in and out of the cars on the road.

'So this is Arundel,' whispered Emma as she took in the beauty of the large castle nearby.

'Yup, and that,' Declan pointed to the castle, 'is where we're headed.'

'Cool,' said Lana.

'Diarmuid would love this. I hope he's okay,' Emma said.

'Of course he is. He's probably doing architectural drawings of the Royal Crescent as we speak,' smiled Lana as she leant over and squeezed her sister's hand.

'Who's Diarmuid?' asked Sammy.

Lana smirked, 'Emma's one and only.'

Emma blushed.

'You have a boyfriend? That's nice.'

'Yep, they've been together for a few months now. They're totally loved up, kinda gross really,' Lana joked.

'It is so not gross,' Emma said, her cheeks remaining a permanent shade of red.

'I think it's sweet. I had a boyfriend but we broke up a few months ago.'

'Oh, sorry to hear that,' Emma replied.

'Don't be, he was a jerk.'

'Oh.'

Lana laughed, 'We all know our fair share of jerks. You're better off without him, Sammy. You can hang out with me and we can be young, free and single together.'

Sammy chuckled, 'Cool.'

'Although Lana LOVES boys, Sammy, she's like the biggest flirt ever,' Emma added.

'So what's wrong with flirting?'

Elliot glanced across at Declan and raised his eyebrows.

'Okay, we're here,' Declan said, grinning and putting an end to their teenage talk. 'Is that the chopper the girls used this morning?' he mumbled to himself. 'Jimble, can you check our surroundings again, mate?'

Jimble hopped up and looked out the window. 'No pixie trolls trolls. None. None here here.'

'Okay people, let's get out of here,' Declan said as they all began to open the doors and stretch their legs.

'Declan?' came a voice from indoors.

'Sal?' he answered back as the gorgeous woman literally ran into his arms and covered him in hugs and kisses.

'Sal!' he said over and over, 'I'm so glad you're okay.'

'Declan, Emma, Lana, Elliott... oh poor Moira what happened? Oh and I see we have a newcomer. Hello, I'm Eleanor,' she said as she strolled towards them and shook Sammy's hand. 'It's always a pleasure to meet a new Watcher. What's your name?'

Sammy reddened a little before answering, 'I'm Sammy... Sammy Prentiss. Nice to meet you.'

'How are you holding up? Today is your birthday, isn't it?'

'H-how did you know?'

Eleanor tapped the side of her head, 'I have a list and your name was on it. I'm sorry you weren't better prepared for all this but under these circumstances, it was a little difficult for us to get to you in time. I hope you'll forgive us for that. Now, what's been going on? What happened to Moira and wh...oh, is that a pixie troll in the car?'

'It's okay, Eleanor, he's been helping us,' Emma said as she opened the boot of the car to let Jimble out. 'Just don't touch him without him knowing that you're going to touch him, otherwise, well, you can probably guess what happens. Jimble, this is Eleanor, she's our, erm, well, she's our leader.'

Eleanor laughed as she approached the little fellow with her hand outstretched.

'Hello Jimble. I'm actually the Guardian of the Watchers, in England anyway. How do you do?'

Jimble wobbled over and shook her hand, 'Very well, very well, thank you you. We know of you, we do do. We've heard stories about you you, we have. Good to meet you, good to meet you you.'

oOo

As the group turned to make their way back towards the hospital, Jimble stopped at the doorway. The others all walked in, leaving him behind. When Emma suddenly realised he wasn't behind her, she turned back to face him, 'Jimble?' she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders and held out his hands sadly.

'Why aren't you coming in?'

He shook his head as the others turned back to see why he wasn't following them.

Eleanor clapped her hand on her forehead, 'Of course, the house dust. Oh dear, I'm sorry Jimble. I forgot about that.'

'House dust?' Lana asked.

'Yes, we've actually been using it against them. They have some kind of aversion to it. It slows them down and renders them pretty useless for a while. Wait though, I have an idea.'

While Eleanor quickly turned around and rushed inside, Emma bent down, squinting, 'House dust, huh? But you went into the castle earlier?'

Jimble grinned, 'Exactly, castle castle, not house house. Very open open that was. Little dust, little dust.'

'Oh, okay,' she answered with her eyebrows knitted together.

They waited a good ten minutes before Eleanor came back, followed by two of the nurses carrying a large white bag between them.

When they arrived, they dropped the bag to the floor and opened it up. Suddenly, it popped open into what looked like a large bubble.

'You just have to step inside and it closes here,' said one of the nurses as Jimble looked at it with uncertainty. He slowly took two step backwards.

'It's okay, Jimble. It's to protect you against the house dust. You'll be safe in there,' reassured Eleanor.

'If you put your legs through there,' suggested the other nurse, 'then you'll still be able to walk. And here there are several small holes here, here, and here which allow oxygen to enter. But don't worry, they've got especially designed filters on them to keep anything from getting out, or in your case, anything from getting in.'

Jimble looked impressed as he inspected the strange looking contraption.

'They use it to treat people with contagious diseases,' Eleanor said as he finally shrugged his shoulders and stepped inside. Wobbling slightly, Emma stepped forward to give him a helping hand.

Once inside, he looked up at the others and grinned.

'I like it. I like it. I do do. It's...funny funny,' he chuckled, leading to a further wobble that led to him falling over and rolling to one side.

The others all laughed as he was put back upright, before they finally walked inside the secret castle hospital.

Moira had already been taken to the treatment room where she would be monitored before her blood transfusion took place, removing the Skull poison from her body.

'Jimble, how do we return people back to normality, after they've been touched by a pixie troll?' Eleanor asked a little while later, as they sat in one of the larger drawing rooms that was full of old paintings of lords and ladies, all of which seemed to stare down at them.

Jimble sat with his legs crossed inside his bubble on the carpeted floor.

'Well, that's a tough one, that is is. You see, you see, the Temporal Stone stone had been stolen by the evil evil ones so that a touch touch from a pixie troll troll renders you timeless, timeless,' he nodded before continuing, 'The Temporal Stone stone needs to be returned to its rightful owners, owners. To the pixie trolls, the leader of the pixie trolls. Once the stone is back in her hands in its rightful place place everything will go back to normal, normal.'

'Who is the leader of the pixie trolls, Jimble?' asked Declan as he sat with his arms around Saleena on an elegant blue sofa.

'And where is she?' added Saleena with a smile.

Jimble's eyes glazed over and he smiled the kind of smile you had when you recalled someone you loved. 'Ethelle... oh Ethelle,' he sighed as his head slowly fell to one side and he closed his eyes. 'Ethelle...'

'Ahem,' Declan coughed, making Jimble lift his head back up and blush with a shy grin.

'Ethelle is the leader of the pixie trolls trolls, she is. She is the most beautiful beautiful troll you'll ever see see,' he sighed, the mere thought of her made him fall back into that loved up state again.