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  Every year, Bramble Hall hosted a party for the villagers to mark the beginning of summer. It was a tradition that everyone in Bramblegate looked forward to and most of the villagers would attend. The party used to be held on the summer solstice, but legends tell of mysterious events taking place on one such Midsummer’s Eve, so the Brambles, with full agreement from the villagers, moved the event to the beginning of June.

  Cecily could not remember being more excited about something for a long time. This was going to be one hell of a party! And deep down, she knew the reason for this was Cian. It was him that had brought excitement into Cecily’s life and now the villagers of Bramblegate would experience his influence too. The summer events of Bramblegate in previous years had been dull affairs and Cecily had always dreaded attending them. Kaden, Jedd, Fen, Sol and herself would usually skulk around in the background at some drab garden party with a terrible theme. But this year would be different. This year, she would be with Cian.

  As Cecily was thinking about the finishing touches that needed to be made to her costume, she saw that Kaden was coming towards her down the track. Her first instinct was to duck and hide behind a tree, after all, it had been two months since she had seen him, let alone spoken to him, but then she told herself she was being ridiculous. She would have to face him sooner or later; he was her best friend. In any case, he’d already seen her.

  “Cec!” he yelled, his face lighting up at the sight of her. “Where have you been? Actually, I was just coming up to the Dairy to find you.”

  “I’ve just finished,” said Cecily.

  “I’ll walk home with you!” He then added warily, “If that’s OK?”

  “Of course it is,” said Cecily cheerily, linking his arm. She did not realise how much she had missed him.

  “I’ve been trying to get in touch,” said Kaden, “but you’ve become so good at avoiding me. And the others, come to mention it.”

  Cecily could detect the note of sadness in his voice.

  “I know,” she replied. “It’s just that I’ve had a lot of stuff to deal with and I thought that after the big argument at the Bramble Inn, it would be best to spend some time away from you all. I know I’ve not been the easiest person to be around over the past couple of years. I didn’t want to keep dragging you all down.”

  “Cecily, you’re our best friend. We’ve all been so worried about you.”

  “Even Jedd?” Kaden’s silence confirmed to Cecily that Jedd had not been worried about her at all. “That’s what I thought,” she said, bitterly.

  “Look, I don’t know what the deal is with Jedd. He’s very angry with you for some reason. But I’m not and neither are Fen and Sol.” Kaden averted his eyes as he said this and Cecily knew he was not being entirely truthful. She would not blame them for being mad at her. “We know you are going through a rough time and we want to help you all we can. Please don’t shut us out.”

  “Well, I’m actually doing OK,” said Cecily. “The dreams have stopped.”

  “Stopped?” questioned Kaden.

  “Yes, I’ve not had one since the night of the argument.”

  “Oh right, that’s great news.” Although Kaden said it was great news, the tone of his voice did not quite match his words. Cecily was puzzled.

  “What’s wrong? It doesn’t sound like you think it’s great news.”

  “No, it is fantastic news,” he said with more enthusiasm, probably not wanting to upset her. “I’m just shocked, that’s all. Don’t you think it’s a bit strange that you’ve been having these dreams for three years and then they suddenly stop? I mean, the dreams were constant, every night and they were getting worse. I know you didn’t like to tell me, but I could see the way they were affecting you.”

  Cecily laughed. “Kaden, I appreciate your concern, but I’m certainly not going to question why the dreams have stopped. I thought I was going mad! It’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I actually feel normal again for the first time since I don’t know when.”

  “Well, as long as you’re happy,” replied Kaden slowly, staring searchingly at her face in case she was about to give something away.

  “There’s something else I have to tell you,” Cecily said to Kaden, finding it hard to keep the excitement from her voice.

  “Go on then,” said Kaden.

  “I’ve got a boyfriend!”

  “What? Who?” asked Kaden, sounding very surprised indeed.

  “All right, don’t sound too shocked! It’s not that unbelievable, is it?” replied Cecily, indignantly.

  “I’m sorry, Cec. I didn’t mean it like that. I just didn’t know that you liked anyone. Who is it?”

  “Cian Bramble. He’s Lord Bramble’s nephew and over here for the summer.”

  “Ooo Cecily Stalks, going out with a member of the aristocracy. Do tell me more!” teased Kaden.

  And so, Cecily told Kaden all about Cian, about how they had met, what they had been up to over the past couple of months and everything she knew about Cian. By this time, the pair had long arrived at Cecily’s cottage and they were sat on the wall at the front of her house.

  “The thing is Kaden, I like him so much. I can talk to him about anything. He listens and understands me. I think he has really helped with my, erm, problems.”

  “I’m happy for you, Cec. You seem like you have really got it together. If you like this guy, then I am sure we all will. Although I’m surprised that I haven’t seen him around.”

  “He pretty much keeps himself to himself. Besides, it’s not that surprising. You haven’t seen me either.”

  “Yeah, that’s true I suppose. So when are we going to meet him?”

  “Are you going to the party at Bramble Hall this Saturday?” Cecily asked Kaden.

  “The party! Of course! I almost forgot! That was the reason I was coming to find you in the first place. You’ve not forgotten that it’s Fen’s birthday this weekend?”

  “Oh, my gosh, I had! How thoughtless of me! It’s just that with everything that’s been happening. Please don’t tell her,” implored Cecily.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t!” said Kaden in mock exaggeration. “Well, we are going to the party for her birthday. She’s very excited!”

  “That’s settled then!” Cecily enthused, more excited than ever. “We’ll have a reunion at the party on Saturday night to celebrate Fen’s birthday. It will be good to see everyone. I’ve missed you all, you know. Although I must admit, I’m a bit nervous. I hope they don’t hate me for avoiding them.”

  “Who could ever hate you, Cecily Stalks? I’m just glad you are OK.” Then he added, “Does this mean you’ve forgiven me? Last time we spoke, you said you never would!”

  Cecily looked sheepish. “I know, I’m sorry about that. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. This party is going to brilliant though!” continued Cecily animatedly. “Cian has been working so hard.”

  “Well let’s hope it’s better than previous years for Fen’s sake!”

  Laughing, Cecily got up from the wall and walked through her garden gate. She was halfway down the path when she remembered something. She called out to Kaden, who was just walking away.

  “I forgot to tell you something. Elisabeth Stone is back in the village. Apparently, for good this time.”

  “Elisabeth?” inquired Kaden. “That girl who used to go to school with us?”

  “Yes, I was talking to her the other week. She was going for an interview at Bramble Hall to work in the gift shop.”

  Cecily waited patiently for Kaden’s response, only it never came. He simply stared blankly into space.

  “Kaden!” shouted Cecily.

  Kaden awoke from his trance. “When did she get back?” he asked Cecily.

  “Oh, I don’t know…” Cecily mused, trying to remember exactly when she had seen Elisabeth.

  Kaden forcefully interrupted, raising his voice. “When did she get back, Cecily?”

  “Maybe two or three weeks ago. What’
s wrong with you? That’s the third time today you’ve acted like the world is going to end.”

  “Oh nothing. How have I not seen her around?”

  “Maybe you haven’t been looking in the right places,” said Cecily, sarcastically. “You should invite her to the party. She said she remembers us all really well and that she’d like to hang out. As I remember, she had a little crush on you!” teased Cecily.

  “For heaven’s sake, Cec! We were four!”

  “All right, calm down! I was only joking! I guess I’ll see you on Saturday.” She then added slyly under her breath, “Hopefully you’ll be in a better mood.”

  ***

  After he left Cecily, Kaden quickly returned home. He walked through the front door and without saying anything to his stepfather, went to his room and closed the door behind him. He began to pace up and down, hoping that this would help him process the information he had just received from Cecily. A couple of hours earlier, he was dying to see Cecily. He had not seen her for two months and in a way, he felt responsible for the argument with Jedd. He should have warned her. He should have defended her. A couple of hours earlier, he would have done anything to talk to Cecily. Now he wished he had not.

  Cecily had a mysterious boyfriend that none of them had seen or heard of. Not that this was completely strange, it’s just that Bramblegate is a small village and people talk. How come no one had mentioned it to him? Someone must have seen them together. They work at the same place. It was like she had managed to isolate herself completely whilst still going to work every day and having a romance with a prominent member of the aristocracy. Kaden found this strange and something in his head was nagging at him. In all honesty, he was a little bit angry that Cecily seemed so happy and carefree, especially after the worry she had put them all through. Well, Fen, Sol and him anyway. Jedd was quite clearly not bothered in the slightest.

  Cecily was not the only one Jedd had shunned since the night of the big argument at the Bramble Inn. Kaden had barely heard from him at all. He had not seen him face to face despite all of Kaden’s attempts. Any phone calls or text messages had been met with stunted replies or pathetic excuses as to why he could not meet up. Kaden had not wanted to tell Cecily as this information would have upset her. She would have felt that she had come between them. The only people Kaden had seen were the good, old, reliable Fen and Sol. However, even their behaviour was somewhat changed. After numerous failed attempts to see Cecily, their attitude towards her and the situation was becoming really negative. This was so unlike them. Although Kaden had not seen Jedd, he knew that Fen and Sol were still seeing him regularly. He wondered if this negative opinion had anything to do with Jedd poisoning their minds against Cecily and maybe even him. They certainly seemed changed and less bothered, although he had not wanted to tell Cecily about their newly found attitude towards her.

  And if this was not enough, Cecily dropped the bombshell that Elisabeth had returned to Bramblegate. Why was she back? She was, after all, sent away for a reason. Elisabeth coming back to Bramblegate was another sign all was not well. The pieces were shifting into place and yet the group were becoming fragmented. And from what he had experienced, he had a feeling that Jedd was the problem at the centre of it. Kaden did not understand what was happening.

  He was usually so in control. Not this time. Not now. It was his job to keep everything together and he was failing miserably. Something in their sleepy village was about to go seriously wrong. Something was about to happen. But what? The only warning that he might have had had unexpectedly stopped. Cecily said that she’d had no dreams since the night of the Bramble Inn. Not that she trusted him with the content of her dreams anyway. And he knew that whatever had happened at Bramble Hall that day was to do with it. Kaden would have to take action and hope he was not wrong. He would call on Elisabeth and invite her to the party. He would see if she could remember anything as she had done once, so many years ago, before she was sent away. He would be an observer on Saturday night. All of his friends would be in the same room and he would keep a particularly close eye on Jedd. He would be vigilant and look for signs. He would find out if they knew anything; he was determined. And if not, he would seek counsel, although he would be in serious trouble if he was wrong.

  Chapter Eleven

  Lord Bramble sat behind his large, polished, mahogany desk. He was a slight man, dwarfed by the high back of the green, leather, padded swivel chair that he sat upon. The room was in darkness, except for a small table lamp whose green shade cast a sickly glow over the aristocrat’s face, giving him an impish look. Lord Bramble was pensive, his eyes staring at, but not seeing, the far wall of his office. His fingers were pushed up together in front of his face, forming a church steeple and he was using this structure to rest his lips on. When Lord Bramble finally awoke from his daze, he noticed that his leg was moving nervously up and down, the way it usually did when he was worried. Lady Bramble hated this nervous leg and always tutted loudly when it took on a life of its own. However, this evening, he was aware of his drumming leg as the butterflies inside his stomach flapped their wings to the same beat.

  The cause of Lord Bramble’s anxiety would be arriving at any moment. He had been turning over and over in his mind the deal that he had made with the stranger who had crashed into his life but a few months since. When the man first presented himself, Lord Bramble had thought him a crazed lunatic, appearing from nowhere with a ludicrous proposition. He claimed that in the past, his family had screwed over the mysterious man and that it was now Lord Bramble’s responsibility to put things right and pay his family’s debt. Lord Bramble had immediately wanted to have this stranger removed from the premises, but his gut instinct told him not to, even though he felt more than uncomfortable in the man’s presence. Part of Lord Bramble was curious about the tall, dark figure. He wore a long, black, hooded cloak and Lord Bramble found himself searching the black hood that surrounded the stranger’s head in search of a face. However, as the stranger did not like the light, Lord Bramble only caught an occasional glimmer of bright, unnatural eyes that appeared to see nothing and yet at the same time, saw everything. Now to say the stranger did not like the light only applied when he was swathed in his long, black, hooded cloak. This is when he would appear from seemingly nowhere to discuss the particulars of their agreement.

  The mysterious man had attached himself very closely to Lord Bramble under the guise of a nephew visiting for the summer from Dublin. As he did indeed have a nephew of the same age, no one questioned Lord Bramble on the matter, including his wife. The truth of the matter was that Lord Bramble had not spoken to, let alone seen, his younger brother for many years. Therefore, no one would recognise his estranged nephew if they fell over him. The stranger had obviously done his homework as he knew all about the aristocrat’s family, both past and present and over the last couple of months, he had inserted himself into the Bramble family with uncanny ease, keeping very close tabs on Lord Bramble. When he was parading as the handsome, amiable nephew, charming folk with his witty banter, only Lord Bramble knew the true malice that lay behind those crystal blue smiling eyes. He also noticed that the stranger’s smile did not quite extend over his whole face and that it was tight and false.

  However, Lord Bramble could not complain about the stranger’s presence as he had taken him up on his offer and agreed to the deal. Lord Bramble had promised to pay his family’s debts in order to protect future generations. That was not his only reason though; in fact, it was quite far down his list of priorities. The aristocrat, like his father and grandfather before him and their fathers and grandfathers before them, were shrewd businessmen. How else would they have preserved the family estate over the years, especially in this day and age? The truth was that Lord Bramble was a greedy man and his new mysterious acquaintance had made him such an attractive offer. If he went through with it, he would never want for anything again, in this life or the next. And then after his own needs were sorted, there was the guarante
e that the Bramble family name would ensue.

  But as Lord Bramble was greedy, so was he cautious. When he had asked his new business partner for his name, the stranger had simply told him, ‘Dasrus’. There was no surname. And if this man was who he claimed to be (for Lord Bramble had spent numerous days and nights since pouring over his extensive library), then the aristocrat had certainly done something terrible by entering into the agreement with him. The burden lay heavily on the Lord’s narrow shoulders and made him sick to the stomach. He was torn by what he would gain from the deal and the fear that he might have put innocent people in danger. Before Lord Bramble could ponder his situation any further, the lights began to flicker and the tall, black cloaked figure named Dasrus appeared, the floor obscured by black shadows moving at his feet.

  Small green dots of light from the table lamp glittered playfully in the unnatural eyes of Dasrus and Lord Bramble suddenly felt the temperature in the room drop significantly, sending a cold shiver down his spine.

  “Well, Bramble,” said Dasrus silkily, “the time is almost upon us. Tomorrow evening, we will both get exactly what we desire.”

  The aristocrat was silent. He dared not speak. His presence was terrifying and although when wearing his cloak, his face could not be seen, his stare bore right through the lord, setting his soul on fire. After a few moments, the black hooded figure spoke again.

  “I get the feeling that all is not well, Bramble. What is the matter? Maybe my form disturbs you?”

  Before Lord Bramble could reply, the black hood which accommodated those unnatural eyes disappeared, morphing very cleverly into the figure of the imposter parading as his long-lost nephew. However, the black shadows did not disappear. They firmly remained, rippling around his feet, giving the impression that he was walking on water, although the Lord could quite clearly hear footsteps on his cherry parquet flooring.