"You won't be looking for a job," said his father, Derek Gown, the half empty teacup carefully placed on the mantelpiece beside him. "Local gossip has it that the army's looking for another military wizard to replace a chap who went off on a quest or something a few months ago. The pay is great. You'd be one of the top men in town."

     "Well, er, I can't settle down just yet," said Thomas, raising his voice over the sound of Jerry telling his mother and his aunt all about his homeland. "There's something I've got to do first."

     He then told him all about the threat from the Shadow and their quest for the Sceptre of Samnos. "You mean you're leaving again right away?" asked his mother in surprised disappointment, cutting off Jerry in mid flow.

     "Not right away," said Thomas. "We need some information first, and the only person we can think of who might be able to give it to us...” He paused, knowing how his next words would be received. He took a deep breath and decided to just say it. “The only person we can think of to ask is Allis, the old woman in the woods."

     "The Mad Woman!" said his father sternly. "No! I absolutely forbid it. I'm surprised you can even consider such a thing! You know the stories about her, you know what she is! You can get whatever information you need from the great library in Tatria, or go back to that library in the University you're always writing about. There's plenty of places you can get good, reliable information."

     "Excuse me, sir," said Shaun, "but we already know that the information we need can't be found in Tatria's library. The great wizard Zebulon, whose knowledge, wisdom and resources far surpassed our own, has already researched there, as well as every other library and sage this side of the Great Lake, without finding the answer. Allis is our only hope. We have no alternative but to ask her."

     "There's always an alternative," Derek told Thomas adamantly. "Have you forgotten what happened to Eric Persson?" He turned to repeat the story to the others. "He was convinced there was buried treasure hidden somewhere in the mirklands surrounding lake Takal and went to see the Mad Woman, thinking she'd know where it was and tell him, in return for a share. He were never seen again."

     "We don't know he was killed by her," pointed out Thomas. "For all we know he found the treasure and went off to live in luxury in Tatria."

     "But you've heard the stories..."

     "They're probably just that, just stories  Besides, for every bad story there's a good story  What about, what was his name? Jake? The one who wanted to know whether his sister was still alive..."

     "The man who came home looking twenty years older, his hair as grey as a grandfather? Or do you mean the man who was six feet tall when he left and came back with a spine so badly curved he couldn't raise his head higher than his shoulders?"

     Thomas sighed and put a weary hand over his eyes. "I know it'll be dangerous, but I really do believe we have to do this. If Diana's right, if it's the will of Caroli that we do this..."

     Derek turned a venomous gaze on the young cleric, hating her for the ideas she'd put into his sons head. "If Caroli wants someone to throw his young life away, let Her find someone else. Let one of Her own worshippers do it."

     "I will," replied Diana calmly. "I must go where My Lady leads me, but I don't ask anyone to go with me. If all we need is information then it only needs one of us to get it. There's no need for anyone else to take the risk."

     Shaun and Matthew immediately declared their intention to accompany her, as did Lirenna and Jerry, and Thomas assured them that he wouldn't let them go without him, looking at his father as he said it. "I know you don't want anything bad to happen to me," he said, putting a hand on his arm, "But even if she really is as bad as they say, we still have to see her. It's that important."

     "But I've only just got you back!" protested the cobbler, almost in tears. "I don't want to lose you again. Think of what it would do to your mother."

     "It's okay, Tom," said Diana, smiling her understanding. "You don't have to come with us..."

     "I'm coming with you," insisted Thomas, though. "We're friends, and if she really is that bad, then the more who go to confront her, the better. I'm coming with you."

     Derek looked torn with worry and argued with them for some time about the risks involved, but finally saw that they were resolved to go. "How sure are you that this threat from the Shadow is genuine?" he asked at last. "You don't want to do such a dangerous thing unless it's absolutely necessary, and I know the army isn't worried about the Shads invading again."

     "I'm afraid there's absolutely no room for doubt," said Diana. "I have it on the best possible authority."

     Derek ached with anxiety, unwilling to contradict a representative of the Gods but racked with worry for his only son. "All right, I believe you," he said at last. "I don't like it at all, but if you're so dead set on this foolishness then I don't suppose there's any point trying to talk you out of it. I'm coming with you, though. I don't want you walking into the lion's den without someone there to look after you."

     Thomas protested, but Derek was adamant and the wizard soon saw that he was not going to be deterred. He thanked him, therefore, trying to hide his embarrassment from the others, then hurriedly changed the subject, hoping to put the unpleasantness behind them. Fortunately it was soon time for the midday meal and the subject was temporarily forgotten as they all set places around the small table, trying to find an arrangement in which they weren't all banging knees all the time.

     It was a huge, hastily prepared feast put together by Margaret and Edie who'd virtually emptied the pantry to feed all their unexpected guests. Thomas and his father barely picked at their food, though. Derek frowning unhappily at his son and the wizard uncomfortably trying to avoid eye contact with his father. For the past five years he'd had a mental image of what the reunion with his parents would be like, and at first it had been just the way he'd expected, but now it was all going wrong. Why did we have to tell him where we were going? he thought bitterly. We could have told him something else... Thinking back on it, his father's reaction had been completely predictable. Thomas knew all the horror stories as well as his father did. What had he been thinking of?

     He glanced sideways at Lirenna, sitting beside him, and looked across the table at Shaun and Matthew, tucking away with gusto and telling Derek between mouthfuls of food about life in the Overgreen Forest. What were they thinking about his argument with his father? Were they sympathetic, or were they secretly laughing at him? He'd only known them a few short weeks, but already he was feeling a strong sense of comradeship with them, the feeling that they had become part of something strong and good. Their opinion of him mattered to him, Lirenna's in particular. Were they looking at him whenever his gaze was turned away? Were they sharing secret glances with each other and sniggering at him behind his back? The moment when Diana had suggested he stay behind had sent a cold shock of shame and fear through him, and in that moment he'd hated his father in a way he'd never thought he could. Damn! Damn! Damn! he cursed in the privacy of his own head. Why did this have to happen?

☆☆☆

     After dinner, the four women disappeared into the kitchen to wash up and talk about woman things, leaving the men alone. Thomas took out his spellbook and showed it to his father, and the cobbler screwed up his eyes as he stared at the strange, magical writing. “You wrote this?” he asked, staring at his son in amazement. “But the words... It’s like they...” He paused as he searched for the right words, staring back down at the book again. “It’s like they won’t stand still!”

     “It’s magical writing,” explained Thomas. “Only a wizard can read it.”

     Derek stared at his son, and Thomas felt a twinge of fear as he felt a gulf opening up between them. They were father and son, but the relationship between them now had a new, more complex element, that of wizard and mundane, and Thomas felt almost grief at the realisation that things were different between them now, that he really had changed. He closed the book and put it away, suddenly ashamed of it as if it contained pornographic imagery, and dismissed the idea he’d had of demonstrating one of his spells to them. He’d been wanting to show off, to show them what he’d learned, what he could do now, but he was suddenly afraid that it would only increase the tension between them, make things worse. He changed the subject, therefore, telling his father how they’d been welcomed by the townspeople, and chuckling at the thought that the crowd was probably still there, waiting at the end of the street, staring at their house and wondering what was going on inside.

     They talked all afternoon, Derek still trying to convince his son not to visit the Mad Woman and Thomas still insisting that they had no choice, and they were still talking throughout the long evening until eventually they had to retire for the night. Both father and son were exhausted by the almost endless arguments, as if they'd been trekking through hard country instead of sitting in a warm and cosy living room.

     After discussing the sleeping arrangements at some length, it was decided that Lirenna and Diana would share with Edith in Thomas's old room, into which she had moved a few years before when her husband died, and Thomas, Shaun, Matthew and Jerry would sleep on the living room floor, which was a vast improvement on their previous night. It was a long time before Thomas was able to sleep, though. The arguments kept repeating themselves over and over in his head, but nothing could change the fact that he was home. He might not be in his own bedroom, but he was home, and home was always the best place in the world no matter how far you travelled or what changes had taken place while you were away, and when he finally fell asleep he dreamed that he was playing with toy soldiers on the bare wooden floor and listening to his dad's adventure stories as if nothing had changed and nothing ever would.