The Magic Lands by Mark Hockley Read Free Book Online

animal was
saying but confusion clouded his senses.
    "I can see that I’ll need to do
some explaining," Mo declared, continuing to advance.
    Abruptly, as if struck by a
physical blow, Tom remembered Jack. "I've lost my friend," he
blurted out.
    "I know," the badger said
briskly, “but don’t worry yourself, I know where he is. He’s safe
enough for now."
    His anxiety over Jack's
whereabouts made Tom ignore the close proximity of the creature for
the moment. "Where is he?" he demanded and actually stepped
forward.
    "Have patience," Mo told him,
"all is well, for the time being at least."
    Tom sat down onto the swing and
kicked his feet with frustration, his thoughts jumbled, his mind in
turmoil.
    "Tom," began the badger, "you
must learn that all things come to be when they are meant to
be."
    For just a moment, it was as if
Uncle Ira was there, talking to him. All things come to be when
they are meant to be. His Uncle had often said those very words to
him, when he
    had become impatient or
disenchanted. It felt like an echo from another time. Tom looked at
the badger and sighed. "Tell me," he asked quietly, "why can't I go
home?"
     
    Jack was still dreaming.
    When had the dream began, when
would it end? He could not say.
    He was inside a house made of
cheese. Yellow walls and ceilings held him captive. And outside, an
enormous cat was waiting for him. He wasn't entirely sure, but from
the glimpses he had caught of it through the windows, he thought
the cat’s fur was snow white.
    Every now and then it
would call to him. " Jack .
Come on out Jack. I'm just a pussy-cat, I won't hurt you. Come and
stroke me, Jack," it would purr.
    He put his hands over his ears
trying to shut out the sound, but somehow the creature’s voice
still reached him, penetrating his mind.
    "I am dreaming," he told
himself. "This is only a dream and I can wake up."
    "Jack, why don't you come out?
You know it’s for the best. You know that it’s what you really
want."
    And just for a moment, he
believed the entreaty of the white cat. Maybe he should go outside.
He was tired of staying inside anyway. He should go out and try to
find Tom.
    "No!" he screamed, recovering
his reason with a jolt, his body trembling.
    Now the cat's voice became ugly
and mocking. Jack could feel its desire, its need to possess him.
"Now listen, boy, you had better come out to me because if you stay
inside, Tom will die. Do you hear me? In fact, Tom is dying right
now. But maybe you just don’t care. Maybe you want him to fall from
the tree. Maybe you might just give him…the tiniest push?"
    "Leave me alone!" Jack shrieked
at the top of his voice, holding his hands even more tightly over
his ears.
    "You can't hide forever, Jackie
boy," hissed the giant cat. "All things come to be when they are
meant to be." The cat laughed, a guttural sound that made Jack feel
as though his head was about to burst. "You cannot hide, Jack, you
can never escape. I am the law of the land. You will come over to
my way of thinking in the end."
    "No! No! No!" yelled Jack,
almost in tears.
    The cat began to pad up and
down outside of the building, its paws thudding, the house
vibrating violently.
    "Do you know, Jack," it said as
if conversing with an intimate friend, "I can wait, there really is
no rush. In the end you will want to come to me. You might not
believe that now, but you will. Just wait and see, in the end you
will beg me to take you as my own."
    Jack began to scream and then,
as if he were being hurled through the air, the scene jerked and
altered. After a few moments his mind slowly surfaced and he opened
his eyes. The day was bright and the sky was the palest blue.
Peering down at him was the face of a big black and white
animal.
    "I think you have slept long
enough," the creature said and though there was a moment when Jack
realised that this was quite real and that the badger was speaking
to him, he accepted it without question. Somehow he knew that he
had now passed beyond