To Break a Curse

Chapter 12

'Which way did Mr Elmsbury say to go again?' asked Rose.

'Round this way, I think,' Will shifted the saddle he was holding. They were taking some tack to be inspected by one of the knights.

The corridor they were walking through split into two.

'I think it's this way...' Will realised he was talking to thin air. He looked around and saw Rose had dropped the saddle she was carrying and was running down the corridor towards a group of boys.

As Will got closer, he realised that Oliver was being held against the wall by two boys whilst the others punched him.

Rose the first to enter the fray. She shoved her way to the front and stood in front of Oliver protectively.

Oliver, who seemed to be semi-conscious, groaned, 'Rose, what are you doing?'

'Stopping these idiots from beating you up.'

'Run,' he croaked.

'No. I've started it now so I might as well finish, and anyway, I'm not leaving you like this,' she said determinedly, curling her hands into fists.

'Do you want to start a fight?' one of the boys stepped forward threateningly.

Rose looked at him scathingly, 'don't be ridiculous; of course I don't.'

She noticed that no one had raised their hand to her, which she took as a good sign. Maybe it was because they wouldn't hit a girl? She wondered just how far that idea went back in time.

Will arrived at a run but was quickly pinned against the wall by a couple of other boys.

Rose quickly decided that it was quite a good thing she was a girl, really.

'Get off me,' Will fought against them.

Rose tried to ignore this, 'now,' she rubbed her hands together in a business-like manner. 'Let go of Oliver and Will and we'll say no more about it.'

When no one moved, Rose glared at the two who seemed to be head of the gang. She waited until their stare had begun to falter, and then employed the crossed arms and tapping foot, 'I'm waiting.'

After a moment of tense silence, the boys let go of Oliver, who managed to stand, swaying, for a moment, but then collapsed onto the floor.

'Oliver!' Rose knelt down beside him. His eyes were shut and he groaned.

A grunt of pain made her turn around: Will was doubled over; one of the boys was drawing back his hand for another punch.

Rose scrambled to her feet, 'what do you think you're doing?'

She tried to get to Will but was held back by one of the other boys. Rose stared from Oliver to Will, and back to Oliver again. This wasn't good, no one was coming down the corridor to help and she wasn't sure she would be able to sort this out herself.

Just then, Rose felt a gust of wind blow down the corridor. It felt gentle to her, but the boys who were attacking them appeared to be blown off their feet. She looked around in confusion as the gang of boys were thrown to the ground.

Will climbed over the groaning bodies to her, rubbing his ribs gingerly.

He would have liked some sympathy, but found Rose had gone white and was staring at the end of the corridor.

Tom was standing there with his hand outstretched.

'To an outsider, they would just see the result of the spell, a little as if you only see the result of wind moving the branches of the trees.' That's what Gaius had said.