Labyrinth Junction Read online

  Copyright © 2019 Hayley Davenport-Smith

  Illustrated and cover design by Erin Melissa Davenport-Smith

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

  Matador

  9 Priory Business Park,

  Wistow Road, Kibworth Beauchamp,

  Leicestershire. LE8 0RX

  Tel: 0116 279 2299

  Email: [email protected]

  Web: www.troubador.co.uk/matador

  Twitter: @matadorbooks

  ISBN 9781789019483

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

  In loving memory of my dad and hero,

  Ian Gerald Davenport.

  Contents

  1.Labyrinth Junction

  2.The Magic Sweets

  3.The Citadel

  4.The Riddle

  5.The Gothic Well

  6.The Moonstone

  7.Numblebrook Island Prison

  8.The Rescue

  9.Glamoran

  10.The Red Dragon’s Lair

  11.Wimble

  12.The Ancient Scrolls

  13.The Number Code

  14.The Enchanter’s Orb

  15.Crowning of a King

  16.Home Sweet Home

  Chapter 1

  Labyrinth Junction

  Ben’s heart pounded in his chest as he ran, and he gasped for breath. Little did he realise, that within the next few minutes, his life would no longer resemble normality as he knew it.

  “I’m catching you up, Ben!” bellowed Jacob, one of the cruel boys chasing him. “Don’t think you are going to get away.”

  Ben knew that he had made a mistake fleeing in this direction, but he carried on running, eager to escape the two bullies. A lock of dark hair fell in front of his big green eyes and he quickly swept it away with his hand as he fled. Panic swept over him as he realised he would soon reach the shoreline, where the land ended and the sea began. It was far too cold to jump into the sea, and besides, Ben wasn’t a very confident swimmer. He needed to think quickly and find somewhere safe to hide.

  His stomach knotted as he reached the edge of the shingle beach. That’s when he remembered the cave entrance, high up in the cliff, away to the right where the rocky headland jutted out into the sea. He had always wondered what was in the cave, but his mother would never let him climb up to look; she had told him that it was far too dangerous.

  “Where are you going to run now, Ben?” echoed Owen’s sarcastic tones in the distance.

  Ben decided that there was no other option but to try and scramble up to the strange, dark cave. They probably wouldn’t follow him up there; surely they would be too scared!

  He quickly reached the bottom of the steep cliff and began to climb. He felt uneasy as he found a few small ledges for footholds and steadily began to haul himself up. He was ascending quite quickly, and when he looked down, he realised that he was already fairly high above the ground. The two callous boys had reached the bottom of the cliff face, and to Ben’s dismay, they also started to climb. He hastily found another ledge and tried to pull himself up further, but the rock face was cold and slippery and it felt sharp beneath his fingertips. Fear engulfed him as he lost his footing, and for a moment he thought he was going to lose his grip and fall, but by some small miracle he managed to hang on and save himself from tumbling.

  Finally, his hand touched the wide ledge of the cave opening. He took a deep breath, and with all the strength he could muster, pulled himself up. Relief swept over him as he sat on the ledge, and with renewed confidence he dared to peer below. It looked a very long way down, and he could see the beach and the grey sea crashing against the rocks in the distance. He could hear the boys’ voices and he leaned a little further over the edge of the cliff, his green eyes searching for them below. He hoped they would have given up by now, but his heart sank as he realised they were still in pursuit.

  Eager to escape, Ben stared into the dark and gloomy cave and slowly crept inside. He couldn’t tell how far back it went as he walked deeper into the shadows. He slowed as the cave narrowed, and realised he could now touch both walls with his arms outstretched. He was in almost complete darkness and the cave felt cold, damp and eerie. Ben wondered whether he should wait until the boys had gone, and he stood still and listened. At first there was only silence, but then he heard the muffled sounds of Owen and Jacob’s voices and realised they had reached the small, rugged entrance. Ben felt an air of nervousness as he decided to continue on his perilous journey. The cave narrowed even further, and he began to squeeze himself between the walls into the gloom.

  Eventually, he saw a faint glow of light in the distance. At first he thought that it was his imagination playing tricks on him, so he stood still to focus his eyes… yes, it was definitely light ahead. He continued moving forward and to his amazement, came to a flight of rocky steps with a beam of light shining down brightly from above. He felt uneasy as he slowly climbed them, not knowing what he would encounter when he reached the top.

  But to his astonishment, he found himself entering a strange, circular, dome-shaped room. The light was coming from a fire in the middle, and beside the flames sat an old, wrinkled woman with long, matted grey hair and a large hooked nose. Ben gasped in bewilderment at the strange sight. She looked very much like a witch in her long, black cloak! Over the fire was an enormous black pot, and she was stirring something inside it. The old woman was much larger than Ben, and he briefly wondered how she could have got here, through the tiny, narrow passageway… unless there was another way in, perhaps?

  “Welcome to Labyrinth Junction,” croaked the old witch.

  “Welcome to where?” Ben stuttered, astoundment in his voice.

  “Labyrinth Junction, of course!” snapped the hag. “Can’t you read the sign?”

  Ben looked up and saw a large, red sign on the cavern wall, bearing the words LABYRINTH JUNCTION.

  “About time someone passed through… I’ve been waiting here all day!” she grumbled as she studied Ben intently.

  “Waiting for whom?” he replied nervously, pushing his dark hair away from his eyes to get a closer look at the strange sight before him.

  “For a passer-by, of course!”

  “I’m not a passer-by,” protested Ben. “I was just trying to run away from some horrible boys.”

  “People give me all sorts of excuses in here,” declared the witch. “Now, which way do you want to go?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Which way do you want to go?” she snapped impatiently, as if it was a very simple question. “Come on, I haven’t got all day, you know!”

  “Which way can I go?” Ben replied sharply, starting to feel a little irritated at being spoken to in such a rude manner.

  “Well, if you don’t know where you are going, I can’t understand why you are here,” she said brusquely. “Have a look and see!”

  Ben looked around the room and saw lots of e
quations and formulae written on the walls: e = mc²; pi = π = 3.1415926; A = πr²; a = 2b + 3c.

  “Why are there lots of numbers and mathematical signs on the walls?”

  “Don’t they teach you anything at school, laddie?” she snapped. “Mathematics, numbers, equations, physics… they solve many of the world’s problems, but people are just too ignorant to see it. You will learn that on your travels. Regard that as a bit of important advice for your impending journey! Now, which way are you going?”

  Ben continued to look around the cavern. He noticed that there were four narrow passageways leading off the room. They had the letters N, E, S, and W marked above them.

  “Hurry up!” said the witch. “There are four passageways to choose from – that’s presuming you don’t want to go back the way you came?”

  “What do the letters stand for?” asked Ben in a confused manner.

  “As I said, they don’t teach children anything worthwhile at school nowadays!” the old woman cackled.

  Ben quickly realised the letters were positioned at opposite sides of the circular cave. He pointed at each entrance as he spoke. “They mean north, east, south, and west. They are all geographical directions, like on a compass,” he said eagerly, feeling very pleased with himself that he had worked out what the letters stood for.

  “Don’t be ridiculous!” snapped the witch. She picked up a small piece of paper and handed it to Ben. “I presume school taught you how to read?” she asked sarcastically.

  Ben studied the piece of paper and read aloud:

  N = Numblebrook

  E = Eggington Edge

  S = Smugglers’ Way

  W = Wigglesworm

  He could hear Owen and Jacob’s voices echoing from within the dark passage and realised that they must be getting close. He needed to make up his mind quickly!

  “I’ll go to Numblebrook!” said Ben without hesitation, picking the first place on the list.

  “That will be ten noggings,” the old hag stated abruptly.

  “What are noggings?”

  “Money, obviously!” she shrieked.

  “But I don’t have any noggings!” protested Ben.

  “Well then, you won’t be able to pass, will you? That is, unless you want to run an errand and earn your passage?”

  “What errand would that be?”

  She removed a bright green envelope from under her long, black cloak. “You can deliver this to Haligan Lexin for me,” she replied, in a very matter-of-fact way.

  “Who’s Haligan Lexin?”

  “You can find that out for yourself. Now, do you want to deliver it or not? If not, you can’t pass. You can’t come and go as you please through here, you know!”

  “OK, I’ll try,” mumbled Ben anxiously, eager to avoid any encounter with Owen and Jacob.

  The witch handed him the green envelope and he placed it neatly in his pocket.

  “Remember to look after it carefully,” she advised. “The dog will take you through the passageway.”

  A small, sandy-coloured dog with huge droopy ears appeared from under the witch’s long, black cloak. Ben hadn’t noticed it before, and stared at it in surprise. It seemed to know what had been discussed and started to amble towards the passageway with the letter N above the entrance.

  “Just a second – before you go, you had better take these; I’ve got a feeling you might be needing them! I only made them this morning, so they are very fresh.” The witch handed him a jar full of small red balls.

  “What are they?”

  “Sweets. I suggest you eat one if you find yourself in trouble. But a word of warning: use them wisely! They don’t work near heat and only Giddles should eat them; they don’t work on anyone else. That’s the second bit of advice I’ve given you already! Take heed, boy. I’m not usually this forthcoming! You must have caught me in a good mood today.”

  “Who are Giddles?” Ben asked, whilst wondering what on earth she would have been like if he had encountered her in a bad mood!

  “Earthling children like yourself, of course! Now hurry along, the dog is waiting.”

  Ben wanted to ask some more questions about the red sweets, but thought better of it. He put the jar in his coat pocket and turned to follow the strange dog. To his astonishment, he noticed that the dog had two tails which drooped towards the floor and swayed in a very peculiar fashion as it strolled along the passage. He thought about asking why this was, but again decided against any more questions. Besides, he wanted to leave quickly, before Owen and Jacob arrived and caused him more trouble!

  The dog led him through the passageway and, like the one Ben had come through before, it was dark, damp and narrow. A feeling of both excitement and fear stirred in the pit of his stomach as he shuffled slowly through the tunnel towards the light in the distance.

  After a few hundred yards, the dog turned to him.

  “This is where I will leave you!” it announced knowingly.

  Ben staggered backwards in surprise. A talking dog… things were getting stranger by the minute!

  “OK, thanks,” he managed to reply in utter disbelief as he stared at the peculiar canine.

  He stepped out of the passageway and found himself standing on a grassy slope, high up on a hillside. He gasped in awe at the magnificent and colourful scenery before him. The grass sloped sharply downwards towards a wood, and there appeared to be a ravine in the valley beyond. He looked ahead and saw huge mounds of rock and grass floating in the deep-blue sky. They were like islands you would normally see out at sea, but they were just hanging in the air. He saw something fly into the sky from one of the floating islands, and thought it looked distinctly like a dragon. He knew he was no longer in the world that he recognised as his own. This world was beautiful and serene, but so very different. He felt a nervous chill run down his spine as he realised he was a long way from home.

  All of a sudden, he heard rumbling in the distance and a pretty girl with flowing bright blonde hair came running down the slope towards him. As she was about to run past, she stopped and looked at him worriedly.

  “Don’t just stand there!” she gasped. “Run quickly… the King is coming!”

  “What king?”

  “King Ados, of course!” shouted the girl. “Run and hide quickly. If he sees you, he will lock you in Numblebrook Island Prison!”

  Ben could detect the fear in her voice, and he looked up the slope in the direction of the rumbling sound. Just coming into view over the summit of the hill was a procession of pure-white horses, ridden by men holding long poles. From each pole flew a large triangular flag bearing a coat of arms. As they came into view, Ben could see that many of the men were very small – tiny, in fact. They looked similar to dwarfs, but they each had a small, pointed horn protruding from their forehead and their claw-like hands gripped long, sharp spears. However, the man at the front was certainly no small, strange horned creature. He appeared very tall, with long, wavy blond hair. He wore a majestic crown and a golden cloak flowed from his shoulders. Although he was a handsome man, Ben knew immediately that evil flowed through his bones, for suddenly he was filled with terror, paralysing him.

  The blonde girl had hurried off into the trees in the distance and there was nowhere nearby to hide. Ben didn’t want to be caught and imprisoned, and decided he would rather risk bumping into Owen and Jacob. A nerve quickened in his throat as he hastily turned to escape back down the passageway through which he had entered this mysterious and peculiar land. But to his horror, there was only open grassland behind him. The passageway was nowhere to be seen… it had simply disappeared!

  Chapter 2

  The Magic Sweets

  Fear splintered Ben’s heart as he stood in bewilderment, finding it difficult to comprehend why the passage was no longer there. He knew that it should be just behind him, less than a few feet away… bu
t it had completely vanished and was nowhere to be seen. Behind him the land sloped upwards and there was nothing but green, flowing grass waving gently in the wind.

  The King was advancing quickly towards him, and Ben remembered the girl’s warning. She had fled towards the trees and was now out of sight. Fear clawed through him as he began running down the hillside in the direction of the wood, but he was too late; the men and their horses were galloping at speed towards him. The King reined his horse to a stop and stared at Ben in disbelief. A small horned creature blasted a trumpet, and the deafening sound it produced could be heard for miles around.

  “By the order of King Ados, I demand you stop!” bellowed a voice.

  A chill shuddered through Ben’s body as he came to a standstill and turned to look at the procession of horses and men. The King was a good-looking man, but Ben knew by the evil look in his eyes that he was one to be feared. A haze of golden, shimmering light surrounded the blade of his sword, and Ben knew immediately that this was no ordinary weapon.

  “He looks like a Giddle to me!” said a cruel, ugly-looking fellow.

  “Seize him!” bellowed the King.

  Immediately the horned dwarf-like creatures pointed their spears and started galloping towards Ben. His heart was in his throat as he turned to flee, but he quickly realised he had no chance of escape. Then he remembered the red sweets in his pocket, the ones the old hag had given him. A vision of her appeared in his mind, and he recalled her words.

  “I suggest you eat one if you find yourself in trouble. But a word of warning: use them wisely,” she had told him.

  He stopped and quickly pulled the jar from his pocket. He unscrewed the lid and removed what looked like a tiny, shiny red sweet. Ben didn’t have time to examine it in any detail and popped the sweet into his mouth whilst he ran. It tasted like strawberries and ice cream, with a hint of raspberry and meringue, and it just seemed to melt in his mouth. Ben was wondering what it was supposed to do, when his hands began to tingle and the feeling started to spread through his entire body. He lifted his arm up in front of him and stared at his hand in utter wonderment; it was slowly becoming transparent. The image of his arm before him became hazier until it vanished altogether. Ben stopped in his tracks… he could no longer see his arms or legs; in fact, he could not see any part of his body at all. He and all his attire had become completely invisible. Hope fluttered inside him as he realised this was his greatest chance of escape!