The Chase for the Serpentine Ring

On a childhood holiday, a young girl encounters a chance to become the boy he truly is, and siblings and friends are tested in their understanding of one another and the support they all need and deserve…    

By Hafsa Riaz, age 11

Chapter 1

Holidays

 

“Oh, I’m so glad that it is the holidays. We can all finally go on abroad. Do we know where we are going this year?”cried Amber. 

“Oh. About that.” Lucy (their mother) looked a little hesitant, “Your father and I have been invited to a party. It’s way too far to travel by the horses, so your father took up most of our savings to book a private car to take us there. As all three of you know, a car costs over nine thousand pounds, let alone a private one.”

Sophia, Amber’s younger sister, started dancing around the kitchen, as she placed her plate and glass on the kitchen worktop. She had velvet-brown eyes beaming with warmth like candles in the dark. She wore her hair long which fell in a chocolate brown sheet down her back and fanned across her elbows. 

“Thank you for the breakfast, Hannah.” she sang giving the cook a tight squeeze. 

“Sophia, stop dancing.” Lucy said sternly. “Listen. I know that we haven’t gone on holiday for years, because your father and I have had to pay for the bills and you all know that it has been extremely hard these past years. But we only have enough for one taxi to take two people. I have arranged for a friends to bring two horses and two carriages for you to have a mini-break elsewhere. ”

The children’s faces were blank. 

“Oh children never understand.” Lucy continued, “Okay. Your father and I are going to go to the party by ourself and you will be going to the countryside for a mini holiday. Is that clear? Now on to the next thing. I will give you a map. Julian, as the oldest you are in charge of Amber, Sophia, and yourself. Remember, you need to look after Anne too. She is still just a baby. George and Timmy shall be coming too. Just to help you out.”

There was a pause as the children tried to fit all information into their brains.

“Hold on a moment.” Amber broke the silence as quick as it had fell. “Don’t mean to tell me that Georgina is coming. She is so annoying. She thinks that she is a boy. Boys are rough and gauche. She is a girl, so she should act elegant. And her dog is worse than her. He bit me last time!”

“I’m sure you will survive with them for a weekend, dear.” Lucy sighed, as she rolled her eyes.

 

Chapter two

Goodbye

 

The morning sun brought life and happiness into the busy family the next day. The caravans had arrived and the children were piling food, drinks, clothes, pillows, blankets, torches, clocks, tissues, towels, card games, board games, flowers, books, papers, quills, ink, stamps, envelopes, and candles. 

“Julian, in this container there is a map, and a knife.” Joshua, their father, said in a stern tone. “It will help you to get to George’s and wherever you’d like to go. I have also have given you some money. Remember, you can only use it for emergencies. Okay? Look after yourself and everyone.” 

Julian was then pulled into a tight hug by his father.

 

Julian jumped into the front seat of the carriage with Sophia waving madly out of the window. Julian made a clicking noise and the horse started moving down the lane. Amber flicked the reins and Midnight followed Julian. 

“Bye, honey. Be careful. Remember to not talk to strangers. Love you.”

The sounds of their mother yelling to them died away in moments.

“Are we going to have an adventure when we get George?” questioned Sophia.

“Our adventure has already began.” Julian replied, looking into the distance.

 

It was dusk when they arrived at Kirren Cottage. George was waiting at the gate for them. She had a amethyst bag in her right hand, which seemed to contain myriads of objects and in her left she was holding a teal collar with a dog attached to it. 

” Hello ladies. Hi Ju. So lets do this.” George said in a boyish tone. 

She jumped onto the front seat where Amber was sitting. 

“Okay, lead the way.” she ordered to Julian. 

 

Chapter 3 

The ring

 

The carriages had been moving for at least ten minutes when the silence was broken.

SMASH!

The was a scream. 

“Amber!”

Julian jumped off his seat and ran to the carriage behind him. Flinging open the door, he saw glass shattered in every direction. Amber was sitting on the floor with her eyes like saucers. 

“Amber, what happened?” Julian exclaimed as he carelessly ran through shattered glass. 

Her eyes filled up with tears and her cheeks went red. Half carrying her, half dragging her, Julian took Amber out into the open air.    

Amber’s eyes were full of water.

“What happened?!” Julian said sternly. He was half yelling and half worried.

“I...” Amber stuttered, as tears streamed down her cheeks “I was just putting some of my indigo iris flowers on the table when my eyes caught on what seemed like a serpentine ring lying motionless under the desk. I got distracted by it and started to walk towards the ring. In doing so, I knocked down the flowers and tripped on a piece of glass. Then you all came in.”

“You are so clumsy” Julian had obviously calmed down because he patted Amber on the back as he said this. Amber turned red.

 

By playing and relaxing, the minds of the children had drifted away from the ring and the fall, and Julian was acting his normal self.  

“Lets go for a swim.” cried Sophia trying to fan herself with her hand.     

They all ran down to where they thought water was moving. They ran for over ten minutes, Amber pushing Anne in the pram and Timmy running around them as he barked. 

 

Finally, they reached the bottom of the mountain-like hill. 

 

Shimmering in the flickering of the sunlight, the water in the lake was calm and crystal clear and sparkled with a million diamonds of light in the midday sun. Mountains stood tall and proud, towering over the sparkling silver lake. A waterfall was a silky, watery stairs that whispered as it flowed into the lake, gracefully.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let make a splash.” yelled Julian to the others. 

 

Jumping in the warm water for over an hour had make the children hungry.

“Lets race to the other end of the pool.” suggested Julian, “I bet I’ll win, since I’m a boy.” 

“Hey. I’m a boy too.” George sounded offended.  

“Can we eat.”questioned George as her stomach gave a huge rumble.

Silently they dragged themselves over the mountain-like hill, across the the unstable bridge, which had missing planks, behind the quiet village, and silently into their caravans. 

 

Sophia had always loved to be like Hannah. She, Sophia, would admire Hannah flip the pancakes into the air and catch them, as if there was nothing easier than this. It so happened that as soon as the seven had reached the caravans, Julian asked Sophia to cook pancakes. At once, Sophia scurried around taking orders of how many pancakes on a paper, acting posh. 

 

Lunch was followed by snacks, then by dinner, and finally bed. Amber hurried into her green caravan alongside Julian and Anne. Sophia, who admired George’s courage, followed the girl who desired to become a boy.

 

Chapter 4 

That night

 

It felt like it was the dead of night when she awoke. The air was cold and quiet. At least that is what she thought. Yes, it was quiet. Strangely quiet. 

Then she heard it. Was it voices? No. It must just be her imagination. But, there it was again. Those voices. What was going on? She knew that someone was talking, but the question was, who was it?    

 

Sophia clambered down from the top bunk. She unlocked the caravan door to reveal darkness. The voice were still within reach, so without hesitating she crept out into the open air. 

 

Heart thumping, and hands trembling, Sophia advanced on the two shadows.

”-the girl lied. I forced her to tell that boy, probably her brother, nothing about it. I was about to get it, but that boy came in.” 

“What!? You didn’t get it? That ring is essential. Which caravan is it in?”

A trembling finger pointed towards where Amber, Julian and Anne were sleeping. 

“Well, get it!”

“Now?”

“No... tomorrow! Of course now, when else?”

 

Sophia trembled. The ring. The one that Amber had seen. She had to warn George. Trying to stay near to the shadows, Sophia made her way to her caravan and tried to opened the rusty door. CREEK! It opened. 

“George! George!”

George awoke with a start. 

“What is it?”

Sophia told her all about what she had heard.

“Timmy. Come on.” George yelled as she ran to open the door. 

 

The cold air whipped their faces as the sprinted towards the green caravan. Sophia kept tripping over her purple robe, whilst she tried to keep up with George. 

 

The had reached the other caravan within minutes, however there was no sign of the two men.

“You don’t think that we are too late, do you?” whispered Sophia. 

“No, we can’t be” came George’s voice.

There was silence. Then George’s voice came again, but more confident. 

“I’m going in.”

“George, no. You can’t”

“I’m not scared” George said fiercely. 

Another pause and then a creek of a door.  George had gone in.

 

Sophia waited. There were no voices. There were no cries. There were no yells. 

“George?” Sophia waited, then, “George? Are you in there?”

“Yes. Come.”

Sophia stood still. Waited. Then walked in. 

 

Amber was on the floor and Julian, George and Anne were around her. 

“What hap...” the words trailed away as Sophia looked around. 

The contents of Julian’s Amber’s and Anne’s trunks had been thrown everywhere. Their cloaks lay ripped on the floor. The bed sheets had been pulled off the beds and the draws had been pulled out of the bed side cabinet, the contents strewn over the mattress.

Sophia walked over to the beds opened mouthed, treading on a few loose pages of  Camping Near Waters. Amber helped George pull the blankets back onto the bed. 

“What happened?” asked Sophia in a trembling voice. 

“No idea.” said George. But Julian was examining their robes. All the pockets were hanging out.

“They were looking for something.” said Julian. 

“Is there anything missing” asked Amber. 

Julian started to pick up all of the things and throw them back into their trunks. It was only when he had thrown the last of his books into his trunk, he realised what wasn’t there. 

“The ring has gone,” he said in an undertone.

“What?”

He jerked his head to the caravan door and jumped onto the driving seat. 

“We are going to get it back. Get ready.” he ordered, as he pocketed his father’s knife.

 

Chapter 5 

The Chase

 

Sophia, George and Timmy sprinted back to their caravan.

Due to stuffing every item into their trunks they were ready within minutes. 

“I’m ready.” Sophia said to George as she placed her doll into her trunk, beside her teddy.

“Okay. Come on.” 

The trio dashed back to the green caravan. 

 

Julian and Amber were laying blankets in a bag, whilst Anne was lying on the bed.

“Are you ready?” Julian asked without looking up.

“Yes.” George and Sophia spoke together. 

“Amber, stay in here with Anne. George, take the reigns of your horse and caravan. Sophia stay with George and Timmy.” Julian was walking out of the caravan, closely followed by George, Sophia, and Timmy. 

 

The horses moved slowly.  

“Come on, Zippy. Go faster.” George urged the horse on but it was useless.

 

It was dawn when they saw two ebony horses carrying two men. 

“That must be them.” called Sophia to Julian and the others.

“Hey! You two!” George roared. “Give us our ring.”

   

“Come on.” Julian whipped the reigns and the horses began to move in a trot. 

“How... do you... know that... it is them?” panted George, as she tried to stop herself from sliding off her seat once more.

“Sophia saw them so she must know.” Julian yelled back over the thundering of hooves.

 

They were gaining on the two men and vaguely saw that they were also running.

“Come on!” Julian whipped the reigns so hard that his horse had blood leaking out. “Come on!” he yelled at his horse with constant whipping.

 

It all happened in a flash. 

 

Julian’s horse, Sami, had collapsed and had sent Julian flying. George had fallen off her seat and the caravan wheel had driven over her foot. Amber had come out of the caravan with little Anne in her arms. 

 

“George! Julian!” Sophia came running towards them as soon as the caravan had come to a halt.

“Are you okay?”she asked Julian as she helped him to his feet. 

“Yeah. I think so.” he sounded nonplussed.

Sophia turned towards George and ran at her with Timmy and Julian at her heels. 

“That was a horrid fall. Are you alright?” Sophia asked 

“Yes. Just fine.” she jumped to her feet and continued, “Of course I’m fine. Boys are never wimps unlike girls.”

 

That was the final straw.

“You are a girl yourself! Don’t call any girl a wimp because you are one yourself!” Amber had come storming out from the door and had given everyone a surprise. 

George gave Amber a scowl. 

“We don’t have time. Those men have disappeared and we have to find them.” Julian said irritably. 

It was then Amber who spoke. “They went into that cave. I saw them when I came out of the caravan.”

“Lets go then.”

 

Together they helped Sami back up and set off to the cave. 

 

Chapter 6 

The Final

 

Stones glittering, the two horses were tied to a pole and the seven stepped into the cave. 

“Where do you think this leads to?” questioned Amber.

“Dunno.” Julian replied. 

 

George and Amber’s argument had not been resolved. As a consequence, the group didn’t feel like talking much. 

 

It was Sophia who broke the silence. 

“George, do you know where this tunnel leads?”

“No.” she said curtly. 

“Amber?”

“No” she said tersely.

 

They had been walking for at the least ten minutes when they were forced to walk in single-file, since the cave’s walls had caved inwards. 

“Stop.”Julian’s voice echoed around them.”Listen.”

 

Distant voices could be heard. They were gradually getting further away. 

“They’ll never find us. They’ll get lost, and seven will became six.”

There was a chuckle and then “Do you think she’ll know that we’re here?”

“Yeah.” said a second voice.

The children listened tentatively, as they glanced around at one another.

“Lets keep going. We need to meet her there.”

The children waited until they were out of ear shot from the men, then followed silently. 

 

Another long walk followed  until...

“Ouch! Since when did people make doors in caves?”

Peering over the heads, Sophia saw a wooden door. 

“Are you going to open it or just stand there looking at it?” commented George.  

Steadily, Julian pushed open the door and crept in.

 

A cold air engulfed them. Were they in a dungeon? In every corner of the ‘room’ spiderwebs precented themselves. 

“Well, well. Look who we have here.” spoke a drawling voice. 

 

Two men in black travelling cloaks glared down at them. They were at least six feet, two inches tall. They both had grey beady eyes to match the ceiling above. 

 

“I thought that seven would turn to six tonight.” said a man with grey hair. He looked frail and chaotic. 

The children stood there shaking. 

“So, I believe it is time for the wish” the man continued. He reached into the bag that he was carrying and pulled out the emerald, green ring.

“Give that here.” Julian built up his courage and spoke dangerously.

The two men’s laughter echoed around them. 

“If you want it,” the second man stepped forward, “Then come and get it.”

“Julian, no.” Amber said flatly, “I’ll tell mother.”

“You don’t have a mummy to save you now.” said the first man. “We don’t have time to do this chit chat. All we need is our friend.”

 

To the children’s astonishment, George stepped forward, grinning.

“Hello, Moldovan. Sateen.” George was up to their shoulders. 

“George?!” Sophia stared horrified in the cold eyes.

“You horrid, untrustworthy, rude, little, girl!” Amber was shaking with anger. 

“Girl?” George’s grin faded a little, “I don’t think you understand. You see, there are only a few of these of their kind. These two got a ring each,” she indicated at the two men behind her. “They made a wish as girls and well now they are strong, powerful boys.”

 

There were only a few rings a decade ago. This, the one George clutched in her hand, was the only one left. Sophia stared down at the ring. This object could make anyone turn into whatever they desired. The Serpentine ring gleamed like a crystal enticing an individual to come nearer.   

 

“How did it get into the caravan.” Sophia finally asked.

“Well, I thought that would be obvious.” George frowned, “Your mother had two caravans brought to you by a friend. That friend is an explorer. She simply dropped it.”

“You can’t turn into a boy.” Amber exclaimed. 

  

“The process in almost complete,” grinned George, as she slipped the ring onto her finger “And there is nothing that you can do.”

“AHHH!” Shrieking and yelling, pointing a shaking finger at George, Sophia screamed. The other glanced at George.   

 

George’s long wavy hair was shrinking. The cold eyes, which had been covered be her fringe, now were visible. Her eyebrows were enlarging. Her whole face was growing gradually, and her fingers thickened. The children backed away in fright...

 

The End.