Archie Greene and the Alchemist's Curse by D. D. Everest

Author:D. D. Everest [D. D. Everest]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780571307425
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2016-08-22T04:00:00+00:00

‘That’s interesting,’ said Archie. ‘He asked me the same thing.’

‘Apparently, that’s what happened with the original Alchemists’ Club,’ said Rupert. ‘Each of the members had a quill from a different magical creature. Three of them are in the Scriptorium.’

12

Pudding Lane

The next meeting of the re-formed Alchemists’ Club was that weekend. They still hadn’t found anywhere better to meet, so they agreed to use the Scriptorium.

Despite racking his brain, Archie was none the wiser about his magical name. He had tried all the family names he knew, grasping the Emerald Eye and saying them out loud, including Granny Greene’s first name, Gardenia, and the first names of both his parents, Alexander and Amelia.

He wasn’t really sure what was meant to happen, but he was certain that he’d recognise the retrospectre spell if it worked. He had also tried his own name, Archibald, and the names of all the Foxes: Loretta, Woodbine, Bramble and Thistle. In a moment of inspiration, he tried the name of the last librarian of Alexandria, Obadiah Greene. He had even tried the name of the Foxes’ cat, Timothy, and Granny Greene’s dog, Mr Barker.

But he was about to get some unexpected help.

When Archie arrived, Rupert was already there, standing in front of the painting of the original Alchemists’ Club.

‘All right, Rupert?’ he said.

Rupert jumped. ‘Erm, yes,’ he said. ‘Just looking at the picture. ‘That’s my ancestor, Roderick Trevallen.’ he pointed to a tall young man with dark hair. ‘I looked him up. He died young, not much older than I am now. An accident.’

Archie could see there was a strong family resemblance to Rupert. He took a closer look at the other alchemists in the picture.

The girl on the right of the group stared back with cold grey eyes. She must be Angelica Ripley. The eyes ran in the family. Archie could see the likeness with Arabella. The man next to Angelica looked a bit like a younger version of Woodbine. He must be Braxton Foxe.

‘That’s Grey,’ said Rupert, ‘the one looking away, with the white streak in his hair. Apparently he had a shock that turned some of his hair white when he was still an apprentice at the museum. He consulted the Book of Prophecy and it nearly sent him mad.’

Grey’s hand was raised, pointing at the open door behind him. Something glinted in his other hand.

‘What’s he holding?’ asked Archie.

‘The golden Bennu quill,’ said Rupert. ‘It was the most powerful of all the enchanted quills. It disappeared with Grey.’

Archie looked closer. He could just make out the shape of the quill.

He reached out towards the painting. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to happen, but when his fingers touched it, the surface was hard and unyielding.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Rupert in surprise.

‘It was just an idea,’ said Archie, feeling a little foolish.

At that moment, the others arrived. The five of them stood around in a circle.

As usual the club meeting began with the oath. Bramble went first. They carried on around the circle until it was Archie’s turn.

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