The soldiers- if that’s what they were- took them up a set of neatly-paved paths tp the top of the nearest hill.  They seemed to be heading towards a building in the distance, a big farmhouse made out of brown bricks and wood.

Kai sat in Sally’s ear and whispered.  “So, I just realised I haven’t talked in front of them yet.  They probably think I’m a pet, if they’ve noticed me at all.”

“Right,” whispered Sally.  She was glad he was there.  Her chest was beginning to feel tight.

“Don’t mention me until we work out what the situation is, yeah?  You might need me as a secret weapon.”

“Do you think this lot are working for the Iridescences?”

She felt Kai shake his head.  “No.  You’d know them if you saw them.  This lot are from somewhere else.”

Which meant they had no idea what was going on.  Which meant anything could happen, no matter how terrible.

They reached the house.  Close-up, even the windows looked brown.  The rest of the group stopped while the soldier in the lead (the one who’d spoken earlier) walked up the driveway and knocked on the door.

A woman in a black dress answered.  She had the same golden hair and white skin as the soldiers.  “Yes?”

“We need to see High Priest Tavin,” the soldier told her.

She closed the door, and for a couple of minutes, nothing happened.  Sally looked around at the driveway.  It was surrounded by a short brick wall (brown bricks) with heathery bushes on top that blocked it from anyone standing outside.  Sally wondered what it was for.  Did they have cars here, or horses? 

And are we going to live long enough to find out? she tried not to think,

The door opened again.  “High Priest Tavin would see you in the board room.  Follow me.”  The woman in the black dress walked off down the hall, and the soldiers pushed Sally and her sisters to follow.

It was dark in there.  There were no windows, just little blue lights on the walls that looked a bit like weird candles.  There was a dusty, sandy smell as they walked through the hallway, but Sally couldn’t see anything.

They ended up in a big room that wasn’t much better lit than the hallway.  Sally thought it looked a bit like a library, but she couldn’t be sure.  A man (with curly blond hair and pale skin) sat at a desk, while another man (ditto) stood around in fancy riding clothes, trying to look important.

The head soldier bowed his head to the riding-clothes guy.  “High Priest.  We picked up these trespassers around the fringes.”

The High Priest didn’t respond to this.  He just gave Sally and her sisters a dirty look and said, “State your names.”

Rube cleared her throat.  “I’m Ruby Warbeck, and Sally and Jeanette are my sisters.  We’re in…”

“And what are you doing in Kindling Grove?”

We have a name! thought Sally, and almost burst out laughing with sheer nervousness. 

If she had, it might have distracted Rube from how nervous she was.  “Well, um…  Do you know Colwyn Ballantine?  He’s our uncle, and he’s been…”

The High Priest snorted.  “Oh, this is a mission in the name of Dovecote Gardens, is it?”

Rube didn’t seem to know what to make of that.  “Um…  I guess?  He’s been…”

“Dovecote Gardens.”  He made a noise with his teeth.  “I have the greatest respect for the owners of Dovecote Gardens.”

Sally relaxed a bit.

“They were noble.  And wise.  And completely lost to history.”

Rube made a funny, wounded noise.  “What do you mean?”

“Don’t try to tell me you’re from Dovecote Gardens.”  He took a couple of steps towards Rube so he could stand over her threateningly.  “You may have been there, but you’ll never understand it.”

“OK, but…”

The guy writing at the desk tutted, and turned to the High Priest.  “I hate it when chancers come through here claiming to be the owners.  I bet if the real owners could see some of the people claiming to be them now, they’d be horrified.”

The High Priest gave him a quick nod, and turned back to Rube.  “I just need to look into your eyes, and I can tell.  Dull,” he pronounced.  And he turned to the lead soldier.  “Take them to the cells.”

(To be continued)