The Music Box Chapter 5

Chapter Five.

 

Ingford.

 

Two months later, Jack’s father returned from a long trip to Ingford, a northern town near the mountains. He placed a wrapped bundle on the workbench.

“Odd place,” he muttered. “Usually folk in distant towns are glad to see you, eager for news. But the Guild Master met me on a bridge outside the town. Wouldn’t let me go in. Very peculiar.”

Jack barely looked up; he was already unwrapping the parcel.

“The man looked terrified,” his father went on. “Kept glancing back over his shoulder. Handed me the clock piece and practically shoved me back onto my cart. And the whole time we were on that bridge, I could hear banging from inside the town.”

“Banging?” Jack asked absently.

“Like pots and pans. When I asked, he said nothing was happening. Nothing at all. Then he whispered that it wasn’t safe to talk, ‘they’ might be listening, and ran back across the bridge. Never said who ‘they’ were.”

Jack had unscrewed the back of the clock mechanism. “No wonder it stopped. Someone stuffed a piece of paper in here.”

He unfolded it.

“‘Please help us. The Dark Knight has taken the whole town prisoner. Anyone who tries to stop him disappears. Tell the King.’”

Jack’s father nodded grimly. “Told you something was odd.”

“It’s too late to do anything tonight,” Jack said. “But Prince Rogan is coming tomorrow. We’ll tell him then.”

When Prince Rogan read the note, he thumped the table. “At last, a lead! Forgive me, my friend, but I must tell my father and ride for Ingford at once.”

He turned to leave, but Jack grabbed his sleeve.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness… but do you think this Dark Knight is the one I made?”

“It seems likely. It’s the only Dark Knight anyone has heard of in months. Why?”

Jack swallowed. “Then I must come with you. I made it. I may be the only one who can destroy it.”

He did not mention that destroying it would bring his pain back.

Rogan hesitated. “You hate going out. Are you sure?”

Jack nodded. “People stare. Children call me names. I hate the pity. But I must come. You say you don’t blame me for what happened to your brother, but I do. I won’t rest until I’ve helped put it right.”

Rogan smiled. “Jack, you’re a better man than any of them. I’d be proud to have you beside me.”

The next morning, Prince Rogan arrived with hunters and a coach for Jack.

“My father wanted to send the whole army,” Rogan said, “but I persuaded him a small scouting party was wiser.”

The journey took three days. Jack tried riding a spare horse, but the jolting was unbearable. By the time they made camp near Ingford, he was sore, exhausted, and miserable.

Two hunters volunteered to scout. They returned hours later with a trembling man.

“We found him hiding in a bush,” one said. “His teeth were chattering so loudly he gave himself away.”

“Feed him,” Rogan ordered. “I’ll hear your report.”

“There’s nothing to report, sire,” the hunter said. “We didn’t enter the town. It’s silent as a grave. No lights. No people. No sign of the Dark Knight or the witch.”

Jack wrapped the man in a blanket and gave him food. When he’d warmed up, Rogan questioned him.

“My name is Walter,” the man said. “They came months ago, the Witch, the Dark Knight, and the Wraiths.”

He shuddered.

“She said nothing would happen if we behaved. But people who tried to leave disappeared. I think the Wraiths took them. The Knight guarded the town by day, the Wraiths by night. But yesterday the witch and the Wraiths left. Only the Dark Knight remains, and he’s gone mad.”

“Who are the Wraiths?” Jack asked.

Walter only shuddered.

Rogan answered. “No one knows. Mountain creatures, perhaps. We always thought they were stories to frighten children. But they’re real, and terrifying.”

One hunter added, “I’m surprised they didn’t kill Magalan. They’re supposed to hate all living things.”

“We didn’t know her name,” Walter said. “We thought she was Calizone. The Wraiths did whatever she told them.”

“What did she want with Ingford?” Rogan asked.

Walter swallowed. “We make pots and pans. She said she had another job for us. She ordered everyone to make suits out of iron.”

“Armour?” Rogan asked.

“Not proper armour. Too thin to stop a sword. And far too narrow for any man to wear. The helmets had no eyeholes. A hundred suits we made. Then she took them and left with the Wraiths.”

Rogan nodded slowly. “If Magalan is gone, that’s one problem solved. But we must move quickly. I’ll go into the town and look for the Dark Knight.”

The hunters protested.

“It would be better if I went,” Jack said. “I’m the only one who can recognise him. And if he’s standing still… I might be able to turn him off.”

Rogan reluctantly agreed. Jack wrapped himself in a black cloak. Walter insisted on going with him.

They crept through a filthy alleyway into the town square. The Dark Knight stood motionless before the Guild Hall.

Jack stepped forward, but Walter yanked him back.

“Watch.”

He threw a stone. It landed with a faint thud. Instantly the Knight turned. Walter threw another. The Knight strode to the sound, sword raised.

“If you’d been there,” Walter whispered, “you’d be dead.”

Jack nodded. “I need to get closer.”

“When the moon goes behind a cloud, move,” Walter said. “If he stirs, I’ll throw another stone.”

Jack waited. When darkness fell, he crept forward. His twisted gait, for once, made him silent. Each time the moon reappeared, he froze.

At last, he reached the steps of the Guild Hall. Hidden in deep shadow, he had a clear view.

The moon shone. Jack scanned the Knight, and gasped.

The Knight turned. Jack froze.

A crash sounded across the square. The Knight spun toward it. In the bright moonlight, Jack saw the Knight’s back clearly.

He had seen enough.

But the sky was clear now, no more clouds, no more shadows. He couldn’t move without being seen.

He was saved by a cat.

It slunk from between two houses. The Knight marched after it, sword raised. The cat hissed and fled.

Jack scuttled back to the alley. Walter was waiting.

Without a word, they slipped out of the town and returned to camp.