The Morgan Sisters Complete Series Boxed Set

ISBN 9789899734890-8

Grinning, she climbed in.

Turning to look towards Daisy, Eleanor gave the thumbs up sign and pointed to behind the building. Daisy locked the door and ran as fast as she could back to Wilbur, who was waiting with her father and Habika.

'Hey Dad,' she said as he hugged her tightly before she explained what had happened. When she'd finished, the four of them ran out of the living room and headed outside to where the helicopter was being re-located.

High fiving each other, Eleanor, Cassie, Amber and Sara climbed out of the helicopter, grinning from ear to ear.

The group gathered by the side of the helicopter as Eleanor started to explain everything they'd learned that day.

'So here's what we know...' she said as she walked back indoors, with the others following closely by her side.

CHAPTER 11

The group sat quietly, thinking about the strange occurrences that had happened so far that day as they made their way through Winchester. Slowing down, they gazed out the windows trying hard to spot any Watchers that might be waiting for assistance.

'There's some kind of movement over there,' whispered Sammy as they turned to look, spotting a twitching curtain behind the window of an old house.

Declan flashed his lights a couple of times towards the property and they waited patiently. An elderly man sneaked a peek from behind a curtain and then moved away, gingerly opening his front door. Declan manoeuvred the car so that he could wind down his window and speak to him without getting out.

'Are you alright, Sir?' he asked.

The man squinted slightly, 'Aye. I'm just waiting for this predicament to be over and done with. You Watchers?' he asked.

Declan nodded.

'You?'

'Aye, but I'm a bit too old to be going out and about to help these days. I can provide you with refreshments but that's about all, I'm afraid.'

Declan grinned at the old man, 'That's very kind of you, thank you.'

The man disappeared momentarily before returning with a carrier bag that he'd firmly tied up.

'I'll get it,' Elliott said as he went to open his door.

'No need,' the old man said as he looked down at the bag, concentrating hard. Seconds later, the bag had vanished from his hands and was sitting on Elliott's lap.

'That's awesome,' he laughed.

The girls sat in the back, open mouthed.

'I might be old, but I've still got my powers,' he smiled. 'Good luck. Stay safe,' he said as he quickly closed his door.

'Thank you!' they all shouted before Declan reversed the car out of the little street and they continued on their way.

'Nice,' said Elliott as he undid the knot and opened the bag to reveal a host of chocolate bars, fruit and a few bottles of water and soft drinks.

Everyone soon went quiet as they devoured the contents of the bag.

'And what about me me? Just because I'm a troll troll, doesn't mean I don't need to eat eat. I got rights too, ain't I I?' piped up the voice from the back.

'Oh here,' sighed Emma as she threw a chocolate bar into the boot of the car.

'Thank you, thank you,' he said as they listened to him rip open the packet and noisily shove it into his mouth, one noisy chomp after another. Then he began to chuckle nervously.

'What? What are you laughing at?' Lana moaned as she turned to see what all the fuss was about.

'What?' she screeched again.

'Sugar... sugar...' the troll cried out. 'You shouldn't have given me sugar...'

'What's going on? asked Declan.

'Erm... we seem to have a problem,' Emma yelled as the troll, who had originally been about knee height, was now twice the size and was squashed rather uncomfortably against the bars of the cage.

'Ouch, ouch,' he muttered.

'Sugar makes you bigger? Why didn't you tell us, you stupid i***t?'

'Because he'd hoped it would break the cage, probably,' Elliott said as he turned around to get a good look. 'Lana, look out!'

The girls pulled themselves forward just as the troll reached out.

'That was close,' she said, horrified, as she watched poor Moira's face change.

'Oh no, he touched Moira,' screeched Lana.

'I did it to save her her. I did it to save save her,' the troll repeated over and over.

'What do you mean? You did it to save her?' Emma asked as the three girls sat huddled up as far away from his prying hands as possible.

'I froze her in time time. She was growing weak weak, she was growing evil evil. I slowed it down down, I slowed it down down,' he said.

'I don't believe it. He's right,' Declan whispered.

'Why would you do that?' asked Emma as she touched Moira's hand to find it ice cold.

'I'm not as evil as you think I am am,' he simply stated, crossing his arms. 'A simple thank you would suffice suffice.'

'Thank you? Thank you? You just FROZE our friend, you creep. Why would we thank you?'

The troll sighed heavily. 'I can't do anything anything. You run me over over, you catch me me, you put me in a cage cage, you feed me sugar sugar and I slow down your friend's evil evil process from happening too too fast fast. I have done nothing to harm harm you you,' he said.

'He's right, you know,' said Emma. 'Thank you for helping with our friend.'

The troll smiled at her and nodded, while Lana looked at her sister like she was from another planet.

'May I have a a drink drink of water water please please?' the trolled asked.

'Sure,' Emma said as she went to throw him a bottle.

'Wait!' Lana yelled. 'What if the water makes something happen? It could be like the Gremlins or something.'

Emma stopped momentarily, 'Will water affect you?' she asked him.

The troll shook his head, 'except except...'

They waited.

'...to quench my thirst thirst.'

Emma smiled and threw the bottle towards him. He caught it, unscrewed the lid and gulped down the entire contents of the bottle in one go.

The others watched, waiting for something horrible to happen.

But the only thing that did was a rather loud and smelly belch.

'Ew,' cried Lana and Sammy at the same time.

'Thank you, thank you, thank you.'

CHAPTER 12

After collecting as much dust as possible, Eleanor and the girls returned to the helicopter where they climbed aboard and waited for take-off.

Habika, Wilbur and Beau stayed behind to guard Praxos, in the hope that some of the Watchers would soon return safely.

As they lifted into the sky, the girls looked down at the strange stillness of London. Never before had the city seemed so calm and eerily quiet.

'Keep your eyes peeled for any kind of movement,' Eleanor said. 'We're not just looking for our kind, but Skulls and pixie trolls, too. We need to find out what happened to that artefact'.

As they hovered, the only sound that could be heard for miles around was the gentle thudding of the rotor blades above them.

Each of the girls carried a pair of binoculars slung around their necks, apart from the pilot Amber, who was able to see just as well without them.

'I think I see something,' Daisy shouted, pointing to the flat roof of a very large house in the distance.

'I see it too,' Eleanor replied, 'Amber, over there,' she instructed.

The helicopter zoomed in towards the large property where they spotted a small group of people waving to them. 'They're not Skulls,' Sara said loudly.

'But they're not Watchers, either,' replied Eleanor.

'Who are they? And why aren't they frozen?' asked Daisy.

'Let's go and find out.'

The helicopter hovered above the house for a moment while Amber decided if it was safe enough to land as the group below shielded themselves from the wind created by the blades. One of them stepped forward and nodded his head as Amber made the decision to set it down close to the edge of the building.

Eleanor climbed out and approached the strangers cautiously.

'It's Eleanor Hayden-Jones,' the hairy man shouted with a grin as he ran towards her.

'I'm so glad to see you,' he said, holding out his hand.

She took him in for just a moment before deciding it was safe. She shook his hand.

'How do you know me?' she asked.

'Are you kidding? All the Supernaturals know who you are, and what you do for our kind. Can you tell us what's going on out there?'

Eleanor smiled, 'First, perhaps you can enlighten me as to who you are?' she smiled.

The man turned and ushered his friends over. It was only as they approached that she realised who, and what, they were.

There were four of them. Two men and two women, all of whom had very long hair and quite a lot of facial hair too. Even the females.

'Are you Basajaun?' she asked, awe-struck. They nodded in response.

'But what are you doing in the middle of London? I thought you were farming folk?'

The man nodded, 'That's right. But we do take holidays every once in a while, you know,' he laughed. 'We have only here a couple of days, and then this happened. We rented this house for a couple of weeks. What's going on?'

Eleanor smiled and explained everything she had learned, 'The only thing that slows them down is house dust, which explains why they haven't been brave enough to enter any of the buildings. I strongly recommend that you stay indoors until we've solved this... problem,' she said.

The four Basajaun nodded, 'Is there anything we can do to help?'

Eleanor shook her head, 'Thank you but no. Leave it to us. We can handle it. You guys stay safe indoors, okay?'

Again, the small group nodded and thanked her as she returned to the helicopter, climbed aboard and waved as Amber deftly manoeuvred the vehicle off the roof.

'Who were they?' asked Cassie.

Eleanor grinned, 'The Basajaun. I still can't quite believe it. I'd never have thought they would venture out of their homes to come here.'

'What are Basajaun?' asked Daisy as they slowly made their way over the city.

'They were always believed to be spirits living in caves who took care of agricultural creatures and farmland. Apparently, many, many years ago, it was the Basajaun that taught humans all about farming and ironwork. They're very gentle beings. I still can't quite believe they're in London,' she muttered. 'Fancy that.'

'Down there,' yelled Sara. 'There's a group of people on the move. They’re definitely Skulls,' she added. 'Look, there are a few trolls behind them.'

'Are you sure?' Eleanor replied. 'Can you get us a little closer, Amber?'

The helicopter turned towards them.

'It's that guy you kicked earlier, Eleanor,' Daisy shouted, her eyes wide open with fear.

'They're watching us. Let's keep our distance, but continue to follow them. Let's see where they're headed.'

Daisy kept an eye on the trolls. The Skulls appeared to be pulling them along. 'Eleanor, I think they're being held against their will.'

'I think you're right. So it is the Skulls who are responsible for all this, then,' she muttered.

'Amber, we need to track down Bryn. He went to Royal Tunbridge Wells with a group of students this morning. Do we have enough fuel to fly down there and back?'

Amber checked the instruments and nodded, 'Yes, we managed to fill her up in Northolt on the way back from Bath. We'll be fine. Want to head there now?'

Eleanor thought for a moment and nodded. 'Yes, it's important I speak to him about that artefact'.

The helicopter leant over to one side as they changed direction and headed south east.

oOo

'Follow the A26, Amber, and keep an eye out for any kind of movement. It's possible Bryn might have found a vehicle.'

'It's like looking for a needle in a haystack,' sighed Cassie.

'Let's head for the centre, towards the Pantiles.'

As the helicopter hovered above the pretty spa town, moving closer to the popular shopping area of the Pantiles, Eleanor pointed to an area for them to land.