Deepglint burrowed his head into hers. ‘You brought my magic back to me, Fox. You forged a bond between us that even being in different worlds cannot break. And so, whenever you fall asleep back home, whisper for me in your dreams and you will find me there.’
Fox wrapped her arms round Deepglint’s neck. How she wished he could be by her side when she faced her parents and told them she wouldn’t be coming up with a fortune-saving business plan, but was hoping to turn all her efforts into helping others. There was a ‘Save the Planet’ club at school that previously she’d dismissed as a waste of time, but which now she wanted to get involved in. And apparently there was a fundraiser next term for the old people’s home beside the school which she had a few ideas for. And then there were her classmates in general; she knew it was time, at last, to start making friends, even though the thought made her palms sweat.
As if the Lofty Husk could sense Fox’s fears, he whispered: ‘Be yourself back in the Faraway and those around you will come to see you for who you really are.’ He lifted a paw to hold Fox close to him. ‘It is impossible not to love someone as wonderful as you, Fox Petty-Squabble.’
Fox hugged Deepglint once more and when she drew back she saw a tear slip from the panther’s eye. She thought of how the Lofty Husk had hidden his tears when he learnt of Spark’s death, but was making no attempt to do so now. Perhaps even grown-ups learn things about love on adventures, Fox thought.
She smiled at Deepglint one last time, then she stepped onto the train after Fibber.
Tedious Niggle was on board already, plumping up cushions in the carriage before them. ‘I have to say I am glad to see you changed out of those ghastly business suits. And congratulations for beating Morg, by the way; I was rather worried you’d just get sunburnt instead.’
He swished through the carriage to the far door, then turned. ‘Could I please ask that you sit down in the snugglers and hold on, tight, for the departure of this service? The Here and There Express tends to lurch off at speed, which is important if we’re to be back in the Faraway with only a few hours having elapsed since we left.’
Fibber placed the satchel containing his paintings by his feet and sat down in the armchair before him, which changed immediately into a park bench laden with cushions. And Fox found her armchair morphing into a snug beanbag again. There was no sign of an office chair or a spiked throne this time.
The twins glanced out of the window to see the huge crowd, fronted by Deepglint, Iggy and Heckle, waving them off, then the train jerked forward and, before the twins could even catch their breath, it was whisking them through the rainforest at breakneck speed.
The Here and There Express raced along until they were soon back at Snaggletooth Cave, charging headlong into its mouth. The train rattled on and Fox thought back to how frightened she’d been when they plunged into this tunnel a week ago. But this time, in the drawn-out darkness, Fox felt her brother’s hand squeeze hers. Their adventure in Jungledrop was coming to an end, but their adventure back home was just beginning. Fox felt a flutter of excitement at the thought.
The train burst out of the tunnel and Fox and Fibber blinked in surprise to see that they were wearing ordinary clothes once again. Not business suits, as they had been when they set out on their adventure, but clothes that regular eleven-year-olds might wear during the summer holidays. Shorts and T-shirts, socks and trainers. There wasn’t a tie or a briefcase in sight.
The twins looked out of the window. They were moving so fast the countryside was a haze around them. But then the train slowed a little and their surroundings came into focus. Meadows strewn with flowers, wooden chalets clustered round lakes, mountains rising up into the distance.
‘Germany!’ Fibber cried.
Fox shook her head in disbelief. ‘We made it back!’
It was raining – great torrents of water pouring down onto the countryside – and this was drawing people, hundreds of them, out of their houses and into the meadows and fields. They were dancing, whooping and kicking through the puddles while holding up open hands as the rains fell and fell.
‘We did that,’ Fox said, smiling. ‘All this rain – because of what we did in Jungledrop!’
The twins sat back and tried to take it all in as the train sped on towards Mizzlegurg.
Far, far away, in the depths of a well, the harpy screeched with fury. She had lost her hold on Jungledrop and her rage swirled inside her. But when she had created the Night Garden she had placed this bottomless well in the corner and she knew that even bottomless wells did, eventually, lead somewhere. Even if that somewhere was so deep underground the only thing living there was the darkness itself.
But Morg was a creature who clung to the dark, who knew how to use it to weave terrible spells. As she fell down, down, down into the well, she vowed to herself that she would stop at nothing until she had conjured a doorway into Crackledawn – an Unmapped Kingdom which still housed a few of her followers from her fleeting visit there many years ago. And if she could find a way into this land again, as she had done on the night she rose up from Everdark, and rally her followers, then one final opportunity would arise for her to steal the magic of both Crackledawn and Silvercrag – the last two Unmapped Kingdoms she
