Legends from The Warlock's Chair - Book One - Ravengaard

Chapter Five - Magical Weapons

THE WEEK AFTER THEIR VISIT TO THE WHISPERING TREE seemed to pass by ever so slowly. School had dragged on forever,  and the evenings filled with endless school work and such. George had found himself grounded for lying about his homework and they had not had a chance to explore the woods again and seek out the Elves.

But the weather had been a bit hit and miss. Monday and Tuesday were hot and dry, but by Wednesday evening, heavy rain was once again falling. It had rained almost persistently until Friday afternoon, then the ragged grey clouds cleared away and glorious sunshine appeared once more.

On Wednesday evening, with little else to do, Danielle and George had typed The Warlocks Chair into the computers search engine to see if any more information about the area could be found.

Myths and Legends of Shropshire had seemed a good place to start, clicking on it, they scrolled through looking for any obscure references to the area. They re-read the stories about the history of the house and its surroundings. There were plenty of tales of magical beings, of giants and other strange creatures, stories which they now knew to contain some truth in them. Then another story caught her eye. It seemed that down through the ages, many children had mysteriously disappeared from the house or its surroundings. One account told of the Harcourt family that had owned the manor house in the early eighteenth century. Their three young children, Dorothy, Henry, and Alice had returned home one afternoon telling their parents of a meeting that they had had in the woods with some faerie folk. They went out again the following day and were never seen again. Despite a thorough search, no trace of them was ever found. It was thought that wild animals had taken them, but nothing was ever proved. That was not the only occurrence though, other families told of their children disappearing never to be found. The last incident happened during the Second World War. Children had been evacuated from the big cities to the countryside. Some came to stay in Ravengaard Manor. One day several of the children returned from a walk; they told the housekeeper that they had met some fairies who had taken them back to their city deep in the woods. She had not believed them of course. But a couple of days later the children went for a walk and did not return. They, like the others, were never seen again

'We know that most of these stories are likely to be true.' George said after reading the accounts.

Danielle shrugged. 'Yes, they could be, but if so what happened to the children that disappeared.'

'Maybe that's what the Tree was trying to warn us about,' George reminded his sister. 'He did say the Elves had a dark secret.'

'Well we've met the Elves, and we're still here.' Danielle said trying to sound reassuring. 'But let's be careful in the future. And don't mention anything about this to Jessica; or to the Elves when we next meet them.'

'Don't worry, I won't,' said George.

Friday had finally arrived. The evening sun was a crimson ball falling gently towards the western horizon, casting its rosy glow over the house and gardens. The children were enjoying the last of the days pleasant sunshine when Meriol and Captain Thrax called to them from the overhanging bushes that ran alongside the wall.

The children went over and greeted the Elves. Sitting together on the low wall surrounding the fish pond and talking about what had happened since the last meeting. They were out of sight of anyone in the house, so it would look like they were talking among themselves to anyone happened along

Danielle spoke of their visit to the Whispering Tree and what he had told them of the Dwarves. She did not mention the warning he had given them — about not trusting the Elves. It may have just been Oaktooth's way of getting back at the Elves for whatever injustice he perceived had been done to him. Nor did she mention anything about what was learned from the internet. Danielle decided more information was needed before saying anything. Until then she would keep a close eye on their new friends.