White Roses a.b

chapter 44

The maze walls were made of entwined dead branches and tight-packed laurel leaves and the occasional bare spot of ancient stone wall. Ashley felt a sense of helplessness the moment they'd stepped through the entrance and peered down the first endless stretch. The maze continued in each direction as far as she could see, fading in a swirl of fog in the distance. The path itself was padded in a white-flowering ground cover that was soft and damp with dew.

'Well,' said Andy, clearing his throat – the first sound to break the miserable silence that had engulfed them in the Sisters' absence. 'That was not exactly like the first time you brought us to meet the Sisters.'

'No? I've passed through so many times they all start to feel the same.' Hatta smirked and started undoing the buttons of his coat. 'What was their price before?'

'Raven gave them a recitation of a classic Chessian poem,' said Andy, 'and I gave them a lemon seed.'

Ash startled, thinking of the lemon tree that had grown over her bed.

Mistaking her surprise, Andy gave her a nonchalant grin. 'I'd had some lemon in my tea that day – the seed was stuck in my tooth. I'd been working at it all afternoon, but the moment they asked, it popped right out. I was glad to be rid of it.'

Ash was still mulling over the lemon seed and the dream, wondering whether it could be a coincidence, when she felt the heavy wool being draped over her shoulders. She looked down, her free hand grabbing the lapel. The coat was impeccable, not a speck of lint on it.

She turned to face Hatta. 'What is this for?'

'It is a long, damp walk, Lady Costello. I do not wish for you to catch a cold.' Hatta turned away and started walking down the maze's first wildflower-dotted path.

'Thank you,' Ash said, somewhat uncertainly, as she and Andy hurried after him. She slipped her arms into the sleeves. The lining was silken and warm and smelt of herbal tea.

'Yes, that's kind of you, Hatta,' added Andy, who had no coat to offer her himself.

Hatta waved a hand at them without looking back. 'I wish she'd taken a hat before we left the shop. How I find myself in the company of such an unadorned cranium, gallivanting about mazes and wells, is ever the mystery.'

The corners of her lips twitched.

Andy offered his elbow and she took it gladly, the warmth of Hatta's coat and Jest's company driving back the chill the Sisters had given her.

They had not gone far when shadows began to close in around them, reminding her that it was still night-time, despite the golden light of the meadow. Andy removed his hat – its new silence disconcerting – and found an oil lantern inside, already lit. It shed a welcome circle of light on to the maze walls and flickered in Raven's black eyes.

'Did they draw such horrible pictures when you came across the first time?' Ash asked as they traipsed after Hatta.

'They drew, yes, but I didn't think much of the drawings at the time.' Andy pondered for a moment, one finger trailing over Ash's knuckles. 'Do you remember what they were, Raven?'

Perched on his far shoulder, Raven ducked his head to peer at Ashley around Andy's profile. 'A merry-go-round was cast in ink, a monster sketched on stone, and a messenger who would go mad for mistakes he must atone.'

'That's right,' Andy mused, his voice turning low. He was no longer smiling as he stared ahead, watching Hatta pull further away from them. 'Hatta was the messenger. I remember that now.'

Ash's feet stalled beneath her. 'And they drew a monster, like the Jabberwock? And a merry-go-round? Like the hat the Lion was wearing when . . .'

Andy fixed his gaze on her, filling with the same thoughts, the same horrors.