Gate Sinister by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Author:Tansy Rayner Roberts [Roberts, Tansy Rayner]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780645451931
Publisher: Sheep Might Fly

From his hiding place in a thicket of hawthorn bushes thick with white May blossom, Rinaldo Device heard rustling in the leaves. He longed to know if it was Orlando, but did not dare to speak in case he drew the beast’s attention to his hiding place.

There was something perverse about hiding from a rampaging hedge inside another hedge. He wished he had not thought that. Could hedges communicate with each other? Did they speak the same language?

“Psst,” said his brother.

“Shush,” Rinaldo whispered back, relieved that Orlando had not yet gotten his fool head bitten off. “Stay hidden.”

“I’m not hidden,” his brother said aloud. “I’m standing here, minding my own business. And I can see your shoes, Professor. You’re not doing a fair job of hiding, either.”

Rinaldo climbed out of the bush, picking sharp twigs out of his collar. “Any sign of that dragon?”

“Must have got bored and wandered off.” Somehow Orlando had fallen in mud, though there was none nearby. It was a talent he had. His shirt was quite ruined, and his waistcoat would need repair as well as careful cleaning.

“Should I be insulted?” asked Rinaldo. “Were we not interesting prey? Didn’t offer a tasty supper?” He felt a wet spot on his coat and cursed as he came up with a pocket of broken glass. The vial with their last supply of the Love-Me-Not philtre had cracked when he threw himself to the ground. “Damn it all.”

“Can’t say why it stopped chasing us,” said Orlando, craning his neck back through the trees. “It pulled up in a hurry after we ducked through that archway.”

“Which archway?”

“Made of stone, half hidden in the roses. I can’t see it now. Funny…”

Slowly, Orlando and Rinaldo turned their heads to stare at each other.

“Does this garden smell different to you?” Rinaldo asked.

“Muddy?” said his brother. “And also, grassy?”

“I mean — it smells new.” Rinaldo looked properly at the bush he had been hiding behind, bright with white hawthorn blossoms. He was an idiot not to have spotted it before. The May was maying, though it was near the end of October. “Spring. It’s spring here.”

“We found it,” said Orlando in a yelp of joy. “We got in! We’ve found the Forest of Arden! Hats off, gentlemen, you’ve earned a cup of ale.”

It looked like any other forest. Rinaldo could not deny that there was something peculiar about it, to be so alive with spring flowers at this time of year. What were the odds that a family would have more than one secret magical forest concealed on their estate? This must be it.

He had expected more, though. This was a scrubby sort of place. Where were the majestic vistas and the sparkling magical fountains? Where was the sizzling atmosphere of fairy knights and eternal chivalry?

“It was supposed to be difficult,” Rinaldo said, keeping his voice low. He could not help but be suspicious. “We brought the curse-breaking idols and the skeleton keys and the sparks kit.” The pockets of his flame-proof coat fair clanked with all the equipment they had put together for this night’s work.

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