Chapter Two

A Bit of Magic

James had thought nothing could have been as painful as eating the slop that had been passed off as porridge, but he was proven wrong by the four-hour bus ride to Shadow Mountain Orphanage. It was named after a large mountain that sat just behind an ancient-looking Victorian mansion that seemed much larger than it should. James knew his assessment would sound quite mad if he were to tell anyone, but all the same, it was how it seemed. 

From what Miss Belfast had explained on the ride over, the mountain, looming in the distance, cast a cool shadow over the mansion in the evening as the sun descended, and therefore it was called Shadow Mountain Orphanage. Presently Miss Belfast was huffing about the building and its old-fashioned elegance.

‘There’s no need for all this extravagance,’ she would complain again and again. ‘And why do the children need all this property?’ she would tersely inquire of poor old Mister Brekstole, the bus driver, who dare not answer for fear of being fired like the Orphanage’s old janitors, Mister and Missus Stepfordson.

‘No need to pay someone for something the children can do!’ Belfast had said at the time and then hurried the kind old couple out of the building.

James leaned over to Elizabeth, who was sitting beside him.

‘She’s just upset because they treat kids well here,’ he smirked as the bus slowed to a stop outside the front of the impressive building. An excited looking man with a large, bushy, black beard and smiling eyes hurried down the steps of the Orphanage in a long blue robe, extending his arms in welcome. The old bus backfired; then sputtered slowly into silence as Mister Brekstole opened the door and the kids began to slowly, drearily, file out. James was just getting up when a rather large, grumpy boy named Muhammad pushed him roughly to the floor and stepped on him rudely, smiling as he made his way out of the bus.

‘Newt!’ Miss Belfast bellowed shrilly. ‘Stop playing around and get out of the bus!’ she fumed and stormed down the steps and out of sight. Elizabeth helped James to his feet and, being the last two, they made their way slowly out of the bus.

After the two had stepped in line with the rest of their schoolmates, the bearded man from Shadow Mountain Orphanage smiled brightly.

‘Welcome boys and girls,’ he said beaming. ‘Welcome to Shadow Mountain Orphanage! I must say that it is not a happy thing to be an orphan – having been one for as long as I can remember – but I must also say, with the right attitude, it can become a pleasant experience!’ 

At this, Miss Belfast snorted, drawing a rather stern look from the bearded man, who, after a moment, turned back to the line of boys and girls who had their backs to the bus, and grinned.

‘Please feel free to explore grounds as much as you would like,' he said waving his hands about, indicating the lush green meadows, deep dark forests, and glistening lakes, ‘but,’ he continued, now looking serious, ‘I would ask you please, to refrain from going near the mountain itself. There are things there that most of you would not believe, and, it has in fact been the site of many people’s intellectual demise… into madness!’ he finished matter-of-factly. 

James and Elizabeth shot each other a look of curiosity. Elizabeth smiled innocently, but she couldn’t hide the mischief in her eyes from James. For some reason, he knew they would eventually go to the mountain before their time at the Orphanage ended.

*

After the tour had ended, Miss Belfast hurried away towards the mansion, to get herself a strong drink and meet with staff. The children, meanwhile, filtered out onto the grounds to go exploring. James and Elizabeth had also decided to explore the grounds, which were, in fact, magnificent! James wasn’t sure how much property the Orphanage owned, but it seemed like an exceptionally large amount. They spent time at the edge of the large forest where a few wooden benches sat, undisturbed, but left when they spotted Miss Belfast walking down towards them, muttering to herself.

Not wanting to be confronted by the Head Matron they made their way down toward the lake – correction: one of the lakes – and had walked for some distance around the edge, when, to their astonishment, they heard talking coming from a grouping of large bushes close to them. This would have been normal if they were in the company of people who liked to lie in large, prickly bushes, make themselves invisible, and then talk to no one in particular as people walked by. 

This, however, was not the case.

Elizabeth peered into the bush, and suddenly a small animal came running out in a mad dash to escape but, unfortunately, ran headlong into James’ leg. The creature appeared to be a small rodent with thick greasy black and grey fur. James, unafraid, picked up the cat-sized rodent to take a better look at it.

‘Do you know what it is?’ James asked; glancing at Elizabeth as the beast wriggled about in his hands.

‘Not the foggiest. It’s weird though isn’t it?’ she said, taking more of the creature’s features in. The thing looked as though it could walk comfortably on its hind legs, but could probably run faster on all four. It had squinty green eyes and a large toothy mouth with thick white whiskers on its snout; it also had small hands, not dissimilar from those of a raccoon.

‘Ge’off me!’ it seemed to say, and James withdrew, dropping the rodent. It fell onto its back, but righted itself. Standing on its hind legs, it placed one hand on its hip and pointed a finger of the other hand at the two scoldingly.

‘Wa’re you do’un peken’ me up lie’ ta?’ it demanded in a strange accent that neither Elizabeth nor James had ever heard before.

‘I- er… we’re sorry,’ James stuttered.

‘An’ you shud beh! Yer geben’ me a gud frite!’ it said and turned, trotting off.

‘Wait!’ Elizabeth called after it. ‘How– what I mean is… how is it you can-’

‘Tha’ eye kan tak?’ it cut in. 

Elizabeth nodded, unsure of what she was seeing.

‘Wel ta’z eazi,’ it said, now smiling contently, ‘Shaduw Mowntin!’ 

‘The mountain lets you talk?’

‘Ta mowntin es majik!’ 

‘Magic?’ James questioned sceptically.

‘Yes, magic,’ was the reply from an all too familiar voice from behind them.

The two spun on the spot to see Miss Belfast looking down at them coolly. Her face reddened. James was unsure of what to do or say; he had, after all, just been talking to a small rodent.

‘Miss Belfast,’ he stammered.

‘We were just-’

‘Talking to a rodent?’ the Head Matron asked as the black-haired thing scurried off on all fours into the thick underbrush.

‘Well erm… Actually… we-’ Elizabeth tried.

‘Don’t worry, Hartwell,’ Belfast sneered, ‘I don’t think you’re mad. I know all about this place,’ she said looking around the scenery with a slight sparkle of warm recollection in those cold eyes. ‘I must say you two will have a knack for it, as crazy as all this is.’

James was taken aback. Matron Belfast had always shown unfettered coldness to him and Elizabeth, more so than to the other orphans, and now, it almost sounded like she was paying them a compliment! She looked around the lake and forest, as if thinking of what to say next. Not much time had passed when she spoke again.

‘You two will be transferred here to Shadow Mountain Orphanage as of today…’ she trailed off, her eyes chilling like they had received a shot of ice to make them cold again. James wasn’t sure what was going on, the only time he had heard of kids being transferred from their Orphanage was when they were a physical threat to the other pupils.

‘I’m sorry Miss,’ he said, trying to make sense of the situation, ‘why exactly are we being transferred?’ 

‘Because you’re dangerous and I won’t have you in my facility!’ she spat.

James would confess to sneaking out of his dormitory on numerous occasions, and perhaps getting rough with people when they insulted Elizabeth, but he never saw himself as a dangerous person! He was so very confused by all of this.

‘I’ve tried to keep you two under control, but it seems to Mister Fletcher that you need to be trained.’ Belfast looked at them rather gravely. ‘I must say that I agree.’ 

James wanted to laugh. What was she on about? What was all this rubbish? Before the two of them could ask any more questions – in an attempt to squeeze sense out of their Head Matron – she turned swiftly and left them alone by the lake. James and Elizabeth spent the next ten minutes standing in the same spot, not speaking, and wondering if they truly were to be transferred. 

Before long, assuring each other it was all just some cruel prank, they made their way back to Shadow Mountain Orphanage. As they neared it, they saw the students from their Orphanage piling into the old rusted bus; but before they reached the bus themselves, the engine coughed to life, and the dilapidated vehicle slowly rolled away, leaving James and Elizabeth behind, staring in dismay, with many questions, and no one to answer them.