The Promise (The Seekers Book 1) Read online

  “Get in Millie you will catch your death of cold out there.”

  Millie was careful not to get her muddy feet anywhere except on the mat, she knew it drove her dad mental and this was such a neat car, just like Miss Elliot.

  Miss Elliot was still talking, “... and so I wanted to show you this.”

  The A4 paper trembled slightly in the blast of air from the vents and Millie tried to work out what she was seeing, or rather what she wasn’t seeing. “Awesome ... but where is the crystal, is the camera broken Miss?”

  Christina Elliot shook her head, “I checked with Mr Collins and he said the camera is fine. See – your hand is featured perfectly, the problem is with the crystal, may I take another look?”

  It took a while for Millie to retrieve it; her blazer was at the bottom of the bag and she was beginning to feel anxious for some reason. She had actually forgotten about it while playing netball, but at last she found it. They both stared at it, mesmerised by its brilliance. The rain battered on the roof of the car and the world seemed a million miles away.

  Miss Elliot blinked rapidly a few times and then remembered what she wanted to say, “I don’t think there is any point in taking another picture Millie, some minerals have a property of luminescence and yours may be one of them.”

  Millie handed it over, “Lumi ... what?”

  “Luminescence, you know, the emission of light. Some are also phosphorescent, that means they glow after ultra violet light is removed. Some minerals will also glow when they are heated, crushed, scratched or even rubbed. That’s thermo luminescence and triboluminescence! You see the mineral contains chemical bonds that emit light when the mechanical energy is imparted to them. So you test them in the dark.”

  Millie gave a sheepish grin, “Too many big words Miss.”

  “Sorry. What I am trying to say in my clumsy way is that your crystal could possibly have some of these qualities, like “glow in the dark” pyjamas and stuff like that.”

  Millie grinned, “That’s brilliant.”

  “Look, I have a friend at Oxford University, he’s a professor now and with your permission I would like to tell him about this.”

  Millie was gazing into the crystal; in here it was a creamy pale yellow like her favourite banana yoghurt.

  “Sure, whatever you think is best.” she whispered.

  “Good.” Miss Elliot put the car in gear, “Now I will take you home as this is the most appalling weather.”

  Result!

  ###

  Oliver hung up the dog lead and flopped onto the sofa, his hair was soaked and he ran his fingers through it leaving it sticking up at odd angles. Millie looked like she had just woken up too, her long black hair clung to her damp netball top, but her piercing blue eyes were unusually “dreamy” and far away.

  Oliver was three minutes older than Millie and he was always protective of her, but he had to admit that sometimes he just didn’t understand her. “So, what’s up?”

  Millie grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table, “Yeah, good thanks, I actually got a lift home from a teacher! Miss Elliot is really nice.”

  “Miss Elliot? I thought you were at netball?”

  Millie crunched her apple and spoke at the same time, “She was in the car park. Guess she felt sorry for me.”

  “Great, how about we have a game on the Wii before tea?”

  Oliver didn’t really like sport but he was happy to take part in simulated games like ten pin bowling, where he was actually the family champion.

  “Sorry, maybe later? I want to start on my project before I forget what she said.”

  Oliver nodded, “Suppose I should dry Winston off after his walk anyway.”

  The terrier bounded up the chair at the sound of the magic word and Oliver fought him off, “Not again boy it’s much too wet, let’s play catch instead.”

  Winston needed no further encouragement; the lounge was now a dangerous place to be with inanimate objects flying across the room, closely followed by a small, stumpy, four legged one! Millie made a hasty retreat and left them to it.

  4

  Millie could hear the soundtrack for Coronation Street echoing in her room but for once it didn’t bother her. She had made her excuses after tea, leaving Oliver to finish off the rest of the Pizza and clear away. She examined her assorted instruments, laying them carefully on her bed. It consisted of an old lighter, a very powerful torch, a small hammer and a bright yellow duster. That should cover all that lumi ...stuff!

  Right. Miss Elliot had said to test in the dark so Millie clicked off the main light and powered up the torch, its strong beam bouncing around the room as she returned to her bed. She could already see the crystal glowing faintly but when she shone the torch directly on it, her world turned upside down.

  The space around Millie folded in on itself and the whole room imploded. Millie was powerless to act in any way. She wasn’t sure if she was getting smaller or if everything else was getting bigger, but she was definitely going into the light. It was, however, unlike any light she had experienced before. She could see nothing and yet she sensed there was everything. Almost immediately she became aware of a silvery film in front of her, shimmering luminously it hung like a gossamer curtain across her path. There was a rushing away of the intolerable brightness and Millie pushed through the veil in her desire to actually do something. She stumbled through and came face to face with the strangest creature she had ever seen! It bowed and spoke to her, “Greetings Millie, do not be afraid, I am your Companion.”

  Millie knew she was doing her best goldfish impersonation but she could not speak. Instead she gawped at the apparition in front of her. He was maybe a metre tall and appeared to be covered in smooth, pale green fur, covering body, arms and legs. His impossibly straight, shoulder-length hair was a gleaming royal blue of such beauty that it took Millie’s breath away. On his chest was a strange orange logo of some kind. Millie stared at this glistening covering and she longed to touch it. The eyes were mischievous but warm. The face was kind, but different, it was sort of human, but the nose wasn’t quite right.

  He smiled, “May I ... Your Highness.”

  Millie turned around to see who he was talking to, but they were quite alone and that seemed to amuse him even more. His deep, fathomless eyes crinkled with pleasure.

  “May I get up?”

  He had kept his respectful position and Millie finally found her voice. “Who are you? Why are you calling me that?”

  “All will become clear Your Highness but for now you need to be seated while I explain.”

  He pointed to the centre of the room. Floating in mid-air with no obvious means of support was a pale yellow blob of some unknown material. No way!

  He smiled again, “It is quite safe. See.”

  Next to it appeared a gleaming silver tray, also hovering, but on it were a chocolate muffin and a cappuccino.

  “How on earth...?”

  He grinned, delighted, “Exactly.” He pointed to the blob, “Now if you will be seated, we can proceed.”

  Millie shuffled over to the blob and sank hesitantly into it, immediately it moulded itself around her and two comfy arms appeared. The tray moved in front of her.

  “Actually, I prefer hot chocolate.”

  The words popped out before Millie had time to realise she probably sounded quite rude but he didn’t seem to mind; he simply glanced at the tray and said, “Ah, so the antique shop was an experiment too.”

  A steaming mug of hot chocolate now beckoned and Millie picked it up. She couldn’t understand why she wasn’t panicking but she felt quite calm in his presence, like being in the company of an old friend. She blew at the frothy surface, using the opportunity to have a good look around. The room, if you could call it that, was completely bare with no other furniture, doors or windows. It was all the same colour, not quite grey, not quite white, but the most unusual features were the corners, or rather the lack of them. The entire space was gently arched and the edg
es would come forward a pace and then retreat, just like the movement in the crystal.

  Millie looked back at the small furry guy, his short legs rippling softly as he paraded up and down in front of her. “How do you know about the antique shop?”

  He stopped moving. “I was there. You called me.”

  “I called you?”

  He put his right hand out like an elder statesman, “Yes. Well. To be precise you communicated your intent and I responded.”

  Millie took a sip of her drink. It was probably the finest thing she had ever tasted. “But who are you? Where am I?”

  He didn’t seem dangerous but Millie wanted some answers while her brain searched for a way out. He gave her another little bow as if he had just read her thoughts and inclined his head with a reassuring smile. “Why you are at home of course.” He pointed to the left and Millie’s bedroom came into view. It was rather hazy but it was definitely in the mess she usually left it in!

  He continued, “You may go through if you wish. All is partial and complete at a Portal.” He walked across and stuck his arm through the image. Sure enough it bent away from him, but half his arm was gone!

  “Try it.” he suggested, bringing his arm back into view.

  Well if that was Millie’s room she figured she could be through before he stopped her so she put down the hot chocolate, stood up off the blob and had a go. Sure enough her arm disappeared too.

  “Whoa... why can’t I see it if I can see my room?” She snatched it back quickly, yep, still got four fingers and a thumb.

  “Because your senses are for the material plane.” He stated simply. Millie looked at his beguiling features and decided she could trust him. She sat back down and took another big gulp of hot chocolate. He followed her, his whole being flowing, almost like liquid metal. “My name is Quark. I am that which is not, so that that which is can be.”

  Millie waited for him to continue.

  “You are safe here and may return home anytime you wish. As your Companion it is my duty to accompany you on your quest. There is much to explain, but perhaps we should wait for your return with Oliver?”

  “My return ...” Mille almost dropped the mug.

  Quark was most insistent, “Yes, of course, it is far too dangerous for you to go alone.”

  She dropped the mug.

  5

  Grimacing she waited for it to smash like her mum’s best china, but Quark merely glanced at it and it was all gone, not even a stain!

  “You... you made it disappear.” Millie stared at the floor as if expecting to see it return.

  Quark waved his hand dismissively, “Not really, all matter is transferable, you simply cannot see it in its present form.”

  He continued to pace up and down and Millie wondered why he did this, the room was quite small and she thought she could hear him talking to himself.

  “Look, sorry about the mug but you did say dangerous.”

  Quark stopped meandering and looked straight at her; he brought his hands together and tapped his chin, “Ah yes, but all is relative, you understand?”

  Millie most definitely did not understand but she did trust her instincts so she decided to listen. Quark came and sat in front of her, hovering in mid-air of course, just like her blob of a chair. As he gazed he seemed to come to a decision.

  “You are right of course, I am sorry to rush you. Please ask your questions. I am forgetting you are a biological unit and must be concerned with matters of time and mortality.”

  He smiled again and despite his amazing declaration Millie felt any remaining anxiety drift away. “So you will explain everything when I come back with Oliver?”

  He seemed pleased, “Indeed! As your Companion it is my duty to guide and protect you on your quest.”

  Millie was perplexed. “What quest? What exactly is a quest anyway?”

  “For you, Your Highness, it is the search for the Cornerstone on your planet.”

  Millie pondered this new information, “Well what does it look like?”

  Quark threw up his hands, “I’m afraid I don’t know.”

  “Well where is it then?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know that either.”

  Great!

  “So all I have to do is find a stone, somewhere on Earth, and neither of us knows what it looks like. Should be easy then, what will we do in the afternoon?”

  Quark did not get the little joke, “Oh that will be up to you.”

  Millie stood up and did a little tour of the room too. What is with this place?

  Quark spun around gently to watch her, still hovering.

  “Look a portal is not the most comfortable place to think, there is a lot of interfering energy here, why don’t you fetch Oliver and all will become clear.”

  Millie doubted that somehow, but what choice did she have? “Why is this Cornerstone so important to you?”

  Quark stopped floating and coming towards her, he bowed again, and this time Millie could actually feel him shimmering. “It is not that I would not explain to you, Your Highness, it is I fear you would not understand the answer at this point. You will come to understand, IAM willing, but there are severe limitations on your side. It is imperative we find it soon, for much ground has already been lost.”

  Millie was still confused, “But how can we find it if we don’t know what it looks like?”

  “Ah, the Cornerstone will reveal itself to the Seeker, that’s you. Your choice of the Guiding Light has opened this Portal and the journey will follow as sure as your day follows your night.”

  “Oh, so the crystal is a guiding light? You mean my picking it up was no accident?”

  “Indeed. It was an appointed time.”

  “So it’s quite important then?”

  “Not just to me. The future of many depends upon it.”

  That settled it then, how hard could it be to find a missing stone? Millie was almost enthusiastic. Crazy or what?

  6

  Tuesday was something of a blur. Millie’s body was in the classroom but her mind was definitely on Quark. She checked again that the crystal was safe in her pocket. She still hadn’t said anything to Oliver. After leaving the Portal she had gone to look for him but he was watching a film with dad. She couldn’t really drag him away and say she had just met ... somebody. So she had suffered an agonising delay in telling him about Quark.

  Finally the last bell of the day announced her freedom and children poured out of the school gates like lemmings. Millie spotted Oliver’s dark spiky hair above the crowd and she headed straight for him. He was ambling along like he had all the time in the world, hands in his pockets, iPod in his ears. Just as she got close a group of his friends arrived and managed to produce an assortment of chocolate bars and crisps in record time and were passing them around. Millie elbowed her way in.

  “I need to talk to you Oliver, are you coming straight home?”

  Oliver finished off his Mars Bar in two bites, “We were just going to pop into the shop. Tim says his dad will let him have some of the new birds for his birthday.”

  Millie smiled at Oliver’s best friend, he was in the same set as Oliver for most subjects but about half his size and always reminded Millie of old pictures of the Milky Bar Kid.

  “Nice. But then can we go?”

  “Sure. No problem.”

  The shop was always busy after school; it had a prime site and Millie’s dad welcomed visitors. Some shops on the parade had turned away school trade but he knew buying a pet was important and usually started with “just looking”. When they arrived, he was preoccupied with a customer choosing terrapins, so Millie joined the boys at the bird cages. The tiny birds with a bright red streak across the eye seemed well settled and hopped happily from perch to perch.

  ###

  Back home Oliver was impressed at being invited into Millie’s room, usually a no go area! He flopped onto her bed and grinned. “Wow it must be serious, you haven’t trashed mum’s car again have you?�
��

  Millie threw a cushion at him, “It was one scratch Oliver and how was I to know small bits of grit were in that cloth? I was trying to clean the stupid thing.”

  Oliver smiled at the memory, but Millie could see he was ready to listen, his eyes were the colour of jade and they were completely focussed on her now.

  “Okay, shoot. What’s up?”

  By the time Mille had finished those eyes were like two large Ming plates. “This is not a wind up? You have actually spoken to this ...thing?”