Jack Shian and the King's Chalice Part 7

Gratefully, Ossian pushed his chair along to the next table.

"Are you just going to leave us, then?" demanded Rana.

"It's OK, you can mingle now. I told you, people know who you are."

"But we don't know who they are," said Rana indignantly. "And they're all much older than us."

"Come on," said Petros to Jack. "We'll see if we can join another card game. You get the tray. You two had better come with us," he added to his sisters.

Rana and Lizzie got up from their chairs with no hint of enthusiasm, and followed the boys as they wandered along the line of tables. Seeing one group of card players that did not appear too raucous, Petros approached.

"We're Ossian's cousins. Can we join you?"

The young man was about seventeen, with hair down past his shoulders. He peered into Petros's face for a few moments.

"You're a bit young for this place, aren't you?" It wasn't said aggressively, more matter-of-fact.

"I'm thirteen," replied Petros defensively. "I've been working for a year now."

The young man continued staring at him, then slowly looked round at Jack, Rana and Lizzie. The others at the table were watching with interest. Casually, the young man indicated with a sweep of his arm that they could sit down.

"I'm Oobit," he said simply. "This is Gandie, Tom and Radge."

Jack and Petros grabbed two chairs each and pulled them up to the table. Cautiously, Rana and Lizzie also sat down.

"D'you want in?" queried Oobit.

"What game is it?" asked Jack uncertainly.

"Hunt the Queen," replied Gandie, rubbing his hands together. "I hope you've brought your silver shillings, because I'm on hot form today."

Petros surrept.i.tiously slipped a few coins into Jack's pocket, and they were dealt in on the following hand. Jack played cautiously, trying to copy what the others did, but he quickly lost his money. Petros was faring better, and over the next hour he acc.u.mulated a small mound of coins.

Suddenly Tom stood and slammed his cards down.

"Cheat!" He punched Radge on the side of the head.

Radge spun off his chair, clutching his ear and howling.

"Grab the money!" hissed Rana to Petros, who appeared stunned. Jack stepped forward, scooped up Petros's winnings and retreated.

Tom and Radge began flailing at each other, uttering threats and curses in equal measure. To Jack's surprise, Oobit and Gandie just looked on and made no attempt to intervene.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" he asked.

"Why?" replied Oobit. "Radge is always cheating. It's time he was taught a lesson."

A tall fair-haired muscular man came over. He watched as Radge and Tom tried unsuccessfully to pin the other's arms to his side.

"Time for real wrestling, I think." The man had an air of authority, and Jack saw that Oobit simply nodded his agreement.

"Who's that?" Jack asked Gandie.

"Oh, that's Cosmo. He keeps things going here. Smart too knows loads of stuff about stuff."

The man called Cos...o...b..nt down, and with his powerful arms picked up the scuffling Radge and Tom. Both stopped struggling, but continued to glower at each other. Cosmo sat them both down and turned to face the centre of the large room. He swept his left arm slowly in front of him, and the upturned chairs and tables slid away to the side of the room. With a flick of his left hand, Cosmo pointed to the side walls. The number of blazing torches doubled.

This place is amazing, thought Jack.

The music and chatter died away quickly. Cosmo gestured to two young men of about sixteen, and each moved to the centre of the room. Rana and Lizzie had to squirm forward so that they could see. Jack remained at the back of the crowd and stood on a chair.

"What's happening?" said Petros to Oobit.

"Wrestling. We usually have a few contests before we go off to France."

12.

Mascot Jack

The contest was quickly a one-sided affair. Flung onto his back once more, the smaller of the two young men snarled angrily. His opponent Davie, confident of victory, took time to look around and acknowledge his friends' cheers. Reaching into his shirt, the smaller man withdrew two shiny stones, and uttering a sharp cry he threw them to the floor. There was a flash of purple smoke, and his opponent sank to his knees, howling with pain.

In an instant Cosmo had stepped forward, holding out his left palm.

"Eeshogel!"

It was as if the smaller man had been frozen. He stood motionless, a startled look on his face. Several young men ran forward and helped Davie to the side of the room. He was holding his face and shouting that he couldn't see.

"What's happening?" asked Rana.

"You're not allowed to use hex stones," explained Oobit. "Rob could have blinded Davie."

The atmosphere had changed abruptly. From a raucous crowd shouting encouragement, it was now subdued. Rob, transfixed, could only move his eyes. From the chair on which he stood, Jack read Rob's face: terror.

Cosmo faced Rob, his expression one of complete contempt. Grabbing Rob's collar, he dragged him backwards, and threw him disdainfully into a corner.

"There will be no use of hexes in our contests," he announced emphatically. "I am sorry that our young guests have witnessed this breach of our rules. But let us continue. We cannot let this spoil our preparations."

Two more young men dutifully moved forward to the centre of the room and began to wrestle.

Over the next half hour Jack witnessed three further contests, all more evenly matched than the first. Cheers and applause greeted the end of each challenge, with the winner returning triumphantly to his friends and the loser retreating quietly to a side table where he could nurse his injuries and drown his sorrows.

The girls had a ringside view, but while Rana was spell-bound by the action, Lizzie found it disturbing and yet unmissable. Jack, enthralled by the contests, shouted encouragement along with everyone else. Noting his enthusiasm, Cosmo stepped forward after one particularly energetic bout, and held up his hand.

"My friends," he began. "These contests build us for our match tonight in France. I think we have time for one more bout. Ossian, come forward. And young Jack of Rangie, you shall challenge him."

Jack's heart almost stopped. He had been enjoying the contests, but had never considered taking part. Although Ossian was younger by a year or two than most of the Cos-Howe lads, he was bigger than several of them, and obviously much stronger than Jack.

"Come on, Jack," encouraged Cosmo. "You're not scared to wrestle your cousin, are you?"

Jack didn't notice as Cosmo winked slyly at Ossian. Climbing hesitantly down from his chair, Jack made his way to the centre of the room where Ossian stood, smiling. Slowly they circled each other, then Ossian darted forward and grabbed Jack's arms. Jack tried to wriggle, but soon found himself sprawling on the floor. While Ossian bowed grandly to the audience's ironic cheers, Jack quickly got to his feet and ran forward, gripping Ossian's waist. Taken by surprise, Ossian was briefly winded, and he staggered back, tripping and falling. Mocking cheers echoed around the room. Determined not to be humiliated by his smaller cousin, Ossian stood up and moving swiftly forward, twisted and threw Jack onto the floor.

Over the next five minutes, he systematically repeated this. Time after time, Jack fell with a back-crunching thump, and yet, even as his back begged him to lie there and concede, each time he got up and faced his big cousin. After what seemed the tenth time, he staggered to his feet again, but was having trouble focussing. Cosmo stepped forward and deftly parted them.

"A worthy contestant!" he shouted, to loud applause. "Determination like this is rare. We have a mascot for tonight!"

Ossian put his arm around Jack's shoulders. "Are you all right?" he asked anxiously. "You should've stayed down ages ago. If you get up, I've got to put you down again."

Jack tried to speak, but no sound came out. His legs were wobbling, and the pain across his back was excruciating. Rana ran forward and tried to hug him, which made him writhe in agony.

"How come you weren't picked?" She decided to take things out on her brother. "You're older, you should have taken Jack's place."

"He couldn't," explained Ossian. "Cosmo chose Jack, he'd no choice. And Jack made a good go o' it. I thought he'd stay down after the first couple o' throws. Look, I'll get him some heather wine, that'll pick him up."

Ossian returned a few moments later with two goblets full of wine.

"Your health, wee cousin!" He took a deep draught of the wine, and smacked his lips.

Jack took a sip, and immediately spluttered as the wine reached his throat.

"He shouldn't be having wine," shouted Lizzie indignantly. "Mum'll be furious if she finds out."

Petros gently released Jack's grip on the goblet and set it down. "You can have more later if you want some," he said. "Ossian, can I have a word?"

The pair stepped away from the table for a few moments. When they returned, Ossian pushed the goblet further away from Jack.

"Mebbe it's a bit strong. I just thought it would help you after the wrestlin'."

Jack's head was not ringing so much now. He looked at Rana and Lizzie, and smiled weakly.

"I'll be all right. Back's a bit sore, that's all."

Ossian sat and looked at Jack. "You sure you're all right? Cosmo was really impressed wi' the way you kept gettin' back up. He thinks you'll bring us luck tonight."

"What d'you mean?" asked Jack, slowly starting to get his thoughts in order. "Luck for what? And what was all that stuff about a mascot?"

"We're goin' to France for a game o' Shian football. We do it every year, to play for the King's Cup."

"But we're starting work tomorrow," said Jack. "We can't go anywhere else today."

"Tonight, you mean." Rana was getting annoyed. "We should've been at the castle ages ago."

"It's just a game o' football," said Ossian. "Cos-Howe against the Claville boys. They've been doin' it for years. 'Course, the Stone bein' back has made the journey a lot easier."

"We're already late," Lizzie sided with her sister. "What'll Mum think?"

"I'll send a grig to let her know we're OK," said Ossian. "The grig can take the bags as well."

"How will a grig carry all our bags?" asked Rana incredulously.

"Wi' a charm, o' course," replied Ossian testily. "Now, has anyone got anythin' to pay her?"

Petros reached into his pocket and took out a tiny coin. "Is that enough?" he asked.

"That's fine. I won't be long."

Ossian, however, was gone for ages. The party continued, and every now and then someone would come up and compliment Jack on his courage. Jack's back still ached, but the glow of the praise had a remarkably painkilling effect. He took another sip of the wine, and this time it did not burn his mouth.

Jack was basking in the unaccustomed feeling of being praised for his bravery, when one of the Cos-Howe group came up. Expecting another compliment, Jack looked up eagerly. His antic.i.p.ation, however, was misplaced.

"Kids" snarled the youth, and turned on his heel.

Jack blinked in astonishment. What was all that about?

Lizzie began to fidget, asking repeatedly what time it was. Petros tried to sound as if he was in control.

"I think the castle's about two miles away, but we could easily get lost. It'll be getting dark soon. Why don't we just hang out with Ossian and go and watch the game?"

"How are we getting to France?" asked Rana. "That's a long way. I want to go home."

"Ossian said the Stone had made the journey easier," stated Petros. "That's got to be worth trying."

There followed a heated discussion about the rights and wrongs of travelling to France. Eventually, Petros said to his sisters, "All right, you two can try and get back on your own. But don't say I didn't warn you. You'll get lost, and then what will you do?"

"Come on, it'll be fun," said Jack encouragingly. "How often will we get the chance to do this again?"

Ossian returned and informed them that a grig had been despatched to tell Aunt Katie that they were all all right. The music had died down, and Jack could see that people were starting to drift towards the great wooden door.

"How are we getting there?" he asked.

"Horse and hattock!" replied Ossian.

13.