The Magic Lands Read Online Free PDF Page A

he had known since he was a boy when his father had
introduced him to its many secrets. Secrets that maybe Tom was
uncovering at that very moment.
    The garden was closing him out
he realised, barring him from reaching the boys in time to warn
them. The place had altered subtly, things not quite where they
ought to be, paths somehow backtracking to lead him toward the
house.
    Ira stopped running and rested
his hands on his knees, breathing hard. "Tom…Jack," he said
quietly, "the land is shifting and the Wolf wants you both."
    His heart was heavy, he was
just an old man after all. His time was over. Now it was for the
young ones to face the final test.
     
    "Hold on a minute," said Jack
on the branch above.
    "What is it?" Tom asked,
looking up but unable to see anything other than his friend's
hunched body.
    "I've found something!"
Becoming excited, although he didn't really know why, Tom edged up
toward the other boy. "It's a hole," called down Jack, his voice
rising a little.
    "What sort of hole?" Tom
questioned, clambering up over a leafy branch, before attempting to
hoist himself up beside Jack.
    "A big one! I'm going in."
    "Jack!" shouted Tom as he just
caught a glimpse of his friend’s red jumper disappearing into the
tree. It was as though the oak had just gobbled him up.
    "I'm all right," came a muffled
reply, "come on, there's plenty of room in here."
    Pulling himself up onto the
outstretched branch that Jack had just vacated, Tom peered into the
murky darkness of a large hollow. "Where are you?" he hissed, not
able to see anything but blackness.
    "I'm in here! Come on, come
inside."
    For a moment Tom hesitated, and
then with a last glance up at the seemingly endless array of
branches above him, he went into the tree.
    Tom couldn't believe how much
space there was inside the hollow. Trying to adjust his eyes to the
darkness, he shuffled forward, crouching low and holding out his
hands like a blind man.
    "Not bad, eh Tom?" said Jack,
somewhere to his left.
    Dimly, Tom saw the outline of
the other boy. The daylight from outside hardly illuminated the
hole at all and when Tom glanced back toward the opening, all he
saw was a vague shape in the gloom. "This is weird," he commented,
finding a more comfortable position.
    "Great hiding place though,"
Jack observed. "No one would ever find you in here.” He came closer
to Tom until they could see each other more clearly. “This is just
the sort of place I expected to find in your garden".
    "How big do you think it is?"
queried Tom, feeling about with his hands and coming into contact
with nothing either above or beside him.
    "Well," started Jack, "let's
see if we can stand up." With that he straightened to his full
height and Tom winced, waiting for the groan of pain that must
surely come when Jack hit his head. A moment of silence followed
and then. "It’s all right.”
    Getting to his feet slowly, Tom
was astonished to find that even when he raised his hands he could
not find the roof of the hollow.
    "How can it be so big?" he
asked, turning full circle.
    "Don’t know."
    "Try moving about, let's find
the sides of this place. I want to see how big it is," Tom said and
began to inch forward, expecting to bump into the interior wall of
the tree at any second.
    Jack held out his hands in
front of him and imagined he looked rather foolish as he lurched
blindly ahead, before tripping over something and nearly falling
flat on his face. "Ouch!" he cried out, rubbing his ankle before
kneeling to feel for the offending object. "Tom," he called as his
hands made contact with something.
    "What is it?"
    "I've found something
else."
    Tom tried to pin-point his
friend and although he was no more than six feet away saw only a
blurry figure squatting in the darkness. His eyes were finding it
unusually difficult to adjust to their new surroundings.
    "Come and look," urged Jack
almost in a whisper.
    " Look !" mocked Tom. "That's a good one. I can
hardly see you !" As he drew
closer he