‘There is great news! You’ve been accepted to the school on the Island – not that they would reject you. A recommendation from a fellow magician always guarantees entry of course.’

Elvie smiled at Eldridge’s delight – he was much like her father when discussing his passions. ‘How did you find out?’

‘Why this letter, or map, I should say. The invitation provides you with directions.’ He carried a folded cream letter in his hand, embossed with a bright purple seal.

Elvie took the letter and prized it open to reveal a map, with small amounts of writing. At the top of the page, it said in bold letters: THE COURT WELCOMES YOU! Followed by what appeared to be directions written across the bottom of the page. Make your fingers pass the time, ‘gadewch rhyn syniawn’.

‘The welcome map. What fun magic it is to receive. I remember getting mine. Well, go on, give it a go. Follow the instructions and it will make sense to you.’

Picking up the map, Elvie muttered the words to herself, practising the phrases. Then, twirling her finger across the page, said them in a clear voice.

The map sprang to life, suffusing and enshrouding her with a warm orange glow. Three-dimensional glowing shapes formed around her.

The first was Eldridge’s Estate, looking radiant in the light. From her perspective, she stood in front of it, looking at the entrance. The glowing images spun and drifted back up the driveway, gaining momentum like a bird taking flight. From her view, she soared back along the road she’d travelled with Eldridge and into London, weaving through streets until eventually arrived at a train station with a rising clock tower. A sign above the station read ‘Saint Pancras’, before the map led her through the doorway and inside. There it hovered briefly to circle a train, although it didn’t identify which one, before zooming along the railway tracks, through long grassy fields speckled with sheep and clover patches, over fast-flowing rivers and rocky creeks, past forests looming large in the corner of her vision, before finally coming to pause at a second train station. This time the station name was Holyhead. It looked smaller, just a little building situated beside a lonely railway track. The name of the station flashed twice before everything dissolved to mist.

‘Amazing, isn’t it? Shows you the journey while you watch. Where’d it take you to, Saint Pancras and Holyhead, no doubt? I could have told you the way but why ruin all the fun?’

‘Saint Pancras station followed by Holyhead station. But Saint Pancras didn’t look busy – is it working?’

‘That’s the way they like to keep it.’ He smiled. ‘Well my dear, your invitation is here, and as far as I can tell, there is not much more use I can be to you at the present time. While it has been a joy to have you here, the time has come to get you packed and ready to move. They always like their students to arrive on the first Sunday of every three months – and inconveniently for us, that isn’t close. But they’ll never put someone away, and there tends to be a trickle of students arriving on any Sunday. You’ll miss the busier three monthly intake but that can often have its benefits.’

Elvie’s shoulders drooped as realisation dawned. She’d already disappeared on her parents, and now she was about to do the same to Eldridge. She’d lost all control. First, she arrived in the past to find out magic existed, and now she would travel to train as a magician. ‘It doesn’t seem real…’ she said after a time.

Eldridge paused in concern at the change in her tone. ‘Elvie, look at me, my dear. You know you’ll always be welcome back in my house, right? If you aren’t happy with the magicians, and I can guarantee you will be – but if you’re not, you can come back here to stay. I can’t give you the answers you need to get back to your parents, and that’s why you’ll have to try this route first. But there is no need to worry. How about I come with you to Holyhead – perhaps even a little bit farther. We could take my car – it will be a lovely little adventure for it and a true test of the engine!’ He smiled again, excited by the prospect.

‘Don’t we need to go by train?’

He waved her away. ‘The map is a fun guide, nothing more. As long as you end up in the right place at the right time.’

Elvie drew a deep breath to suppress a sniffle. ‘Be brave, little one.’ Those were her father’s words, and she wouldn’t let him down, even if all she longed for was to be folded into a warm hug from her mother in the hope that she awoke from some strange dream.

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Elvie. She walked the gardens of the estate as a distraction but found all she kept thinking about were her parents and home. She missed home so much, missed her cat, Dorian, and her puppy. Home comforted, it always brought a sense of security and peace. At home, no matter what, everything would always turn out well. When she was angry or upset, her parents would look after her, distract her until she was ready for a hug, a kiss, and a shared laugh. They must have had serious practice to be so good at it. But now she had to shrug off that safety net, and somehow make her way – even make her own choices. That was the scariest part; the uncertainty over what she was doing.

She missed her friends too, Marly and Ashlyn; her teachers Enora and Kira. What were they doing right now, wherever they were? Did they miss her as much as she missed them?

Elvie tried reading, but despite the books discussing magic, they weren’t interesting. Phillip Bursberry wrote the worst books. He made magic as interesting as making your bed or picking up your clothes. Elvie wanted it to be exciting and special!

Between the lack of interesting books to read and her worries about seeing her parents and friends again, she wasn’t in the best of moods and found it difficult to sleep the night before she left. The cold didn’t help, a gale had risen which made trees outside tap on the window panes like skeletons trying to get within. She drew the blanket into a desperate nest to fend off the chill, alternating between wishing herself back into the future, and wishing herself to sleep. Either would suffice.

When the sun’s rays finally reached over the horizon to beam down on the garden, Elvie had at last drifted off to sleep.

But her dreams didn’t bring any calmness, only a nightmare.

She was within an old photograph, everything was browned out and hazy, the details lost in a fog. Back in the future, her father drove his car along a road at night, as trees rolled past the windows in a blur of sepia. She sat behind him in her usual seat. She’d always preferred it there, watching over his shoulder as he commanded the road.

Ahead, light blossomed and reflected off a figure. Danger emanated from him as the threat of his presence loomed over her father. He reached out a hand and –

Elvie jerked awake with a gasp of breath, heart hammering like a caged hummingbird. As quick as the nightmare came it was gone, but it left a wary restlessness that seeped into her body and could not be shaken as she flittered in and out of sleep. When Elvie woke in the morning she was tired, anxious about the future, and now worried over her father.

The morning’s sun went some way to revitalising her as it poured down its light and warmth as they set out. The car had been prepared by the house staff for the long journey, which, according to Eldridge, would take all day. ‘It’ll be a nice journey though,’ he explained. ‘Lots of open grass and expansive hills – some rivers and a castle fortress or two. All depends on how far you can see and if the weather closes in.’

They dined on fruit and rolls for breakfast, a staple Eldridge enjoyed. Mrs Thistle had asked the cook to pack a basket of food for lunch, and a second with dinner for Eldridge as he made the return journey.

Max, the gateman, waved as the car ambled back onto the road.

‘It’s the first time I’ll see what she’s capable of.’ Eldridge picked up the conversation. ‘I haven’t quite been brave enough to give it a go. It’s the construct you know, despite the fact charms is well and truly in my area of expertise, the more finicky the machine gets, the harder it is to hold it all together. I haven’t wanted to stress her too much.’

‘What other Houses can you use?’ Elvie asked.

‘Hawthorne and Alder are my strengths. And I do use a bit out of each, Hawthorne to work with the metal, and Alder for shielding against heat and boiling over. That’s one of the greatest things about magic and engineering, you get to draw on what you’ve got. Each individual can do unique things. Magic works best when you blend the Houses together, but it’s an extremely challenging thing to do, and the risk increases if you try to use houses that aren’t a speciality. So while other magicians might be able to make this lovely car work better, this is the limit on my skills.’

As they moved onto clear and wide roads, the car’s pace picked up steadily as Eldridge became more adventurous. The wind whipped hair around Elvie’s face and streamed it out behind her like a horse’s tail. The speed couldn’t be easily measured. Fifty kilometres, perhaps eighty? It didn’t matter, the drive was pleasurable in the early morning.

As the sun spread warmth across her chest and legs, Elvie found herself falling into a deep slumber. The fact she’d barely slept didn’t help, but she’d always loved to sleep in the car with her parents. There was something about the gentle motion of the car that let her drift off feeling safe and sound.

She woke later with Eldridge gently shaking her shoulder.

‘I thought we might stop for some lunch, and this view is too grand to miss. Once we get going, you can go right back to sleep if you’d like.’ He winked at her reassuringly.

Elvie rubbed at her eyes and pushed her way out the car door as she took several steps to shake off the drowsiness. Eldridge had pulled over before a green meadow with only the occasional cow or fence to interrupt the view. Endless green was spectacular for a girl who came from Australia, where everything was always reduced to a sunburnt yellow, if not deep brown.

‘It’s beautiful.’

‘And you get such a nice view here.’ He pointed for Elvie to follow his gaze.

A stonework castle with parapets kissing the sky, perched on a hill in the distance. This one was covered with green vegetation, making it look as natural as the rolling fields.

‘I’ve never seen a castle before,’ Elvie said to Eldridge. Apart from not being the greenest place, Australia didn’t have an abundance of castles.

‘Ludlow Castle. I’ve always thought it to be a beautiful place. Indeed, my wife and I stayed there once, by invitation. It looks imposing from here, with its thick walls. But you should see the beauty of it from the inside. Grand halls, rich wooden furnishing. Why you’d think the Royal Family lived there!’

Elvie nodded. It was obviously a treasured memory for Eldridge.

They sat together and ate lunch. Mrs Thistle had prepared a meat and blackcurrant sandwich for them – Elvie assumed it was pork, but it was difficult to tell as it had been dried out. Still, it satisfied the growl of her stomach.

Eldridge ate quietly, content to stare up at the castle and relive his memories.

When they made their way back into the car to continue, Elvie asked. ‘So you stayed with your wife in the castle once?’

Eldridge shook himself out of the past. ‘We did, my dear. It was lovely, to say the least, and if we had time I’d think to call in and show you myself.’

‘Was that before your daughter’s birth?’

‘I’d think she was being carried, at the time,’ he replied. ‘We’d nigh been married a year, that was why we were sent the invitation. It is common practice for up and coming lords to be invited to various gatherings – forms the bonds of friendship the upper class rely upon. Anyway, the current Lord and Lady of the house had secured a lease, Lord Geoffrey Bornlee, and his wife Margaret – they loved to throw extravagant parties. Part of being noble is about showing off your wealth. Anyway, it was a masquerade party with the finest dresses and suits you’ll see in England and Wales, likely even across the entire world. My wife glowed that night, I must say. A beautiful dress of green and glittering gold.’

‘And you danced?’

‘That we did, that we did.’ He smiled to himself with pleasure. ‘Some memories you need to cling onto for dear life. But I don’t have to, with that one. I don’t think I could ever forget, even if I tried.’ He turned to her with a look of compassion. ‘You hold on to the memories of the ones you love, even if you can’t always be with them. Hold on tight.’