Grimalkin- Crossroads

I glanced quickly at each of the four roads that led from the cauldron and into the trees. Each avenue was very long and I could see nothing at the end of them but for a shimmering mist. Suddenly everything began to spin about the cauldron. The crossroads now had eight roads leading from it and, within seconds, far too many to count and just a blur of trees and roads. I became dizzy until very suddenly the movement ceased and once more there were just four exits from where the huge cauldron was positioned at the centre of the crossroads.

Grimalkin pointed down the one to my left. ‘Go quickly! Run! Every second will make a difference!’

Aware of Thorne grinning towards me, I nodded and obeyed the witch assassin. Despite the pain from my injuries, I sprinted down the road until I was enclosed by the mist.

As I continued to run, just able to see the ground beneath my feet, I thought of Tilda, Tom, Alice and Hrothgar. Had they been released? Where they safe? I should have asked Grimalkin but it was too late now.

Then there was no ground beneath my boots – just a sensation of falling followed by a sudden jarring jolt.

...

When the mist cleared, I was back in the County, returned to the cellar of the Chipenden spook’s house as Grimalkin had promised.

It had changed significantly.

For one thing, the entrance to the tunnel had been sealed. Not only that, every wall had been transformed. Before that they had been lined with old crumbling bricks, but now they’d been replaced with new ones. The work appeared to have been done recently.

I had assumed that the death of Circe had freed Tom and Alice from their ice prison and that they’d been reunited with Tilda. That was my hope.

But surely Tom hadn’t had time to block the tunnel and reline the cellar?

Then I looked down at my arms. The pain had gone. There were scars but the lacerations had healed. How much time had passed whilst I’d been with Grimalkin and Thorne?

I walked across the cellar floor and began to climb the steps, emerging from the door onto the corridor on the ground floor of the house. Somewhere above, I could hear somebody hammering and there was a delicious aroma of baking. I sniffed and realized that it wasn’t bread. It was a much richer mixture with a hint of spice and something sweet.

When I walked along the corridor and entered the kitchen, Alice was wearing an apron and standing by the table with a big bowl, mixing what was inside with a large wooden spoon. She looked up and smiled at me. I remembered Alice’s strained tired appearance when we had last talked in the garden of this house. Now she was fully restored to health and looked hardly older than when I had first met her.

The kitchen was clean and warm and bright with a welcoming fire in the hearth. There were fresh green herbs growing in pots on the window sill. The kitchen looked lived in – a place to cook in and dine in comfort.

‘Circe is dead,’ I told her. ‘Grimalkin and Thorne destroyed her. She’s gone for ever.’

‘We know,’ said Alice. ‘We’ve known for quite a while. The living ain’t meant to enter the dark. So Grimalkin found it hard to send you back. The process took time and I’ve spoken to her twice since then. Of course, for you it might have seemed just a couple of seconds …

Wulf's Bane Chapters 31 & 32