Welcome to the Secrets of the Amulet, the mysterious fantasy Realm where Seer and Witches live right among us. If you have reached the magical age of 10 Summers or you know someone who has, come and step into the Enchanted Forest to find the village of Willowgrove.This is the fantasy-fiction world of the book series The Secrets of the Amulet by Willow Feathernet. This book series was written for any fantasy lover young and young at heart, it has no bad language or name calling. I do try hart to write a good grammar of the English language, but have said that please keep in mind that English is not my first language, in fact I am only writing for about 6 years.Please sit back and enjoy the story of Fredy Jonquil as I will publish one chapter each month.Please don't hold back with your comments, good and bad and any questions you might have. I am more then happy to answer asap. - Willow Feathernet
copyright The Secrets of the Amulet 1 by Willow Feathernet 2010

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Chapter 2: The Unknown Visitor


 Loud voices came from the living room. Fredy knew her parents never had guests over during the week nor so late at night. So she slipped out of her bed and across the room to the door. Slowly, very slowly she opened it and held her ear in the crack to hear the husky voice of an old woman say, “It is time. I have to take her now.”            

    “No.” Fredy heard her mother say. “We promised Danielle to keep her until she was fifteen. We promised!”  

    “I am sorry. Yes, it was planned for her to stay in hiding until she was old and strong enough to fulfill her destiny, but the situation has changed. I cannot ignore the signs any longer. Our friends from the Realm are sending us warnings, the Lampuss’ are gathering more intelligence and it will not be long until they find out about her. I believe Danielle would have understood.”                           

    'What are they talking about?' Fredy wondered. She remembered Danielle's picture in its silver frame in the living room.                                                                                     

    “Well,” her father said, pulling her out of her thoughts, “we promised to help. I thought I saw more of our friends around town lately and wondered if something was going on. I made sure she was never out of my sight but if something happened, I wouldn't have been able to protect her, so I guess she will be better off with her own kind. But we never told her anything about the Realm or the Silent Healer. We thought we had so much more time. Does it have to be tonight?”                       

    “Yes. I am afraid so. We still have the advantage but this can change within the hour. I delayed as long as I could, but it is time to bring her home,” the old woman urged.                      

    The living room was filled with a strange silence that was followed by Mrs. Jonquil's deep sigh before she spoke up. “I will go and wake her.”

    Fredy heard her mother’s footsteps coming down the hallway, she climbed back underneath her blanket and waited.                                   

    The door opened and Fredy felt her mother's hand on her shoulder. “Fredy, Fredy, please wake up. We have a very important guest who needs to talk to you.”                               

    Fredy sat up and asked, “What is going on, Mom?”

    “Just come into the living room, please.” Mrs. Jonquil urged and pulled the blanket off her daughter.

    Fredy followed her mother quietly and rubbed her eyes when she entered the bright light of the living room. Her father stood next to the dark window, staring out into the deserted street. Her mother sat down on the sofa, wiping tears from her cheeks with a tissue in her shaking hand. And in the armchair sat an old woman looking up at Fredy with her peaceful face that had deep wrinkles, a long skinny nose, a very slim mouth and gentle eyes. She stood up when she saw Fredy and bowed her head slightly. “You must be Frederika. I am pleased to see you are doing so well. Please take a seat, I came to talk to you.”                                             

    Fredy hesitated at first, this old woman just looked too strange to her, so she sat down next to her mother.                              

    “My name is Elder Felicia of Willowgrove,” the old woman began gracefully as she sat back in the armchair, but then she closed her eyes and fell silent. Fredy looked surprised at her parents, but neither her father nor her mother looked back at her.

    It must have been a minute or two before the eyes in the aged face opened and the soft voice spoke up again. “Dear Frederika, please forgive me, but I cannot find an easy way to tell you what you need to know without hurting you in one way or another and surely not in a way that your mother would have wanted you to learn about your true identity.”                 

    Fredy looked at her mother, but the woman next to her shook her head and did not meet her eyes.        

    “Your mother, my dear Frederika … your birth mother was Heir Danielle of Willowgrove, was the Heir of Medklad,” Felicia said. “She hoped to live until you were grown, but something unexpected happened and these wonderful people were gracious enough to take you in and raise you as their own.”

    Fredy could not believe what she was hearing. This must be a strange dream. It could not be real. She could only stare from the old woman with the very odd and old fashioned grey dress, to her mother, and then to her father.                   

    “These wonderful people provided a very special service to our kind, one for which we will be forever very thankful.” The woman bowed her head slightly towards     

both of the parents before she turned back to Fredy. “You, your kind tonight.” 

    “What? What do you mean with my kind?” Fredy asked, confused.                                               
     
    “We are a community of very gifted people and you will come home to the place where you and your mother were born, to Willowgrove.”                                                                      

    This could not be real. No. Surely Fredy would wake up any moment and laugh about such a silly dream, but she did not wake up and a sudden flood of panic swept over her. This was real. This woman Felicia expected her to follow her in the middle of the night to who knows where? But why did her parents go along with this? Then it hit Fredy. These people were not her parents, Danielle and her husband Frederick were her parents, but they had died long ago. Her parents were dead and she was an orphan. She was an orphan who was to be taken away in the middle of the dark night by a stranger. Fredy was so paralyzed with shock that she could barely hear Felicia's voice.                     

  “Please go to your room and pack only your most valuable possessions. Take no more than what you can fit into a small bag. Do not bother with any clothes. You will not need them.”                      

    Fredy stood up, but then an unexpected thought rushed through her head, surprising her most of all. “But what ... what if I don't want to come ...what if I want to stay here? I don't have any gifts and I want to stay with my parents.”   

    “No,” said Mr. Jonquil. He turned around to face her and tried to look sternly but Fredy saw his eyes full of tears and his voice was shaking. “Elder Felicia is right. We knew this day would come, but we hoped for a few more years with you.” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “I am sorry. I should have said something … somehow, but we loved you too much, like our own daughter. Fredy, it's time for you to go. We can't protect you any longer and you will be where you belong.”                                                                                  

    Fredy did not know who packed the small bag for her or if she ever got to say goodbye to her baby sister Susie. Her head was in a thick fog, trying so desperately to comprehend what was going on. The next thing Fredy could recognize was the cold, fall wind in her face as she walked behind the dark shadow she knew as Felicia. She took a last look back at the house, the only home she had ever known. But the front door was already closed and the windows dark at  No. 5 Bellfield Way.                                                         

    Fredy and the old woman walked for quite a while. The Elder walked in front and Fredy close behind, wondering how they would travel to this place called Willowgrove, wherever it was, when the Elder suddenly stopped and looked around.              

    “Yes. This will do,” she said more to herself and then turned to Fredy. “I know you do not understand, but you will soon. Do not be afraid, my dear.”                                    

   It was impossible for Fredy not to be afraid. The very thought of walking in the dark gave her cold chills up and down her back            .                                                                      

    “Now, if you will please hold your hand to my belt, I will cover us with this Travelcloak,” said the Elder.  Her long dark dress was held together with a belt that in the glow of the streetlights looked like spun silver with a small silver buckle. Over her shoulders she carried a very long black coat, big enough to cover two large men. Fredy touched the Silverbelt and the Elder swung the coat around her, covering both completely. Fredy felt a sudden warm sensation flooding her body. It was so wonderful and secure, even the slightest uneasiness and confusion went away. Somehow Fredy understood that she was meant to go with this old woman and she didn't need to be afraid. She hoped this feeling would never go away. But a moment later, Felicia opened the cloak and all the comfort was swept away.

    “Welcome to Oakwood,” Fredy heard the old woman say.  The streets and houses were gone and in there place stood a group of small, ghostly, buildings in mids of a deep dark forest.

   “I thought…” Fredy began, but the Elder gave her a hushed whisper.

  “It is not safe to talk just yet.” Felicia looked around and signaled for Fredy to follow her. Together they walked step by step, careful not to fall over roots and branches covering the dark forest floor. Then they reached the trunk of an old Oak tree. Felicia felt around the tree and disappeared into a big hole in the trunk. Hesitating, Fredy followed her and sat down on the soft ground inside the tree.

    Felicia's calm voice said, “We will stay here until light comes, Frederika dear. This is not a safe place in the dark, so please do not talk or make unnecessary noise.”                       

    It was very uncomfortable in the cramped space and Fredy started to tremble. Not because of the light chill in the early fall air, but because of the complete darkness surrounding her. Just when she was about to tell the Elder how much she hated the dark, a light started to glow. It looked like a long golden light right above her head. Not as bright as a lamp, more like the dim night light in her sister’s bedroom. At once, the warm secure feeling swept over Fredy again and she relaxed until she finally nodded off. 



    “Good morning, Frederika, it is time to wake up.”             

    Fredy opened her eyes and blinked. The sun had barely risen and the dark of the night was gone but it still was not light enough to see clearly.                                                        

    “Come, please follow me quietly,” Felicia said, standing in front of the hole. Fredy followed her without a sound. Both walked back towards the buildings and Fredy could see why Felicia had preferred to spend the night in a hollow tree. Most of the houses were burned to the ground. Some had parts of their walls still standing but others were only piles of stone and debris. Felicia stopped in front of a ruin of what once must have been a very big house.                            

    “This was the house of your grandfather. Your father was born here and became an Elder of this village when he was very young, just before it was destroyed,” the old woman explained in her quiet and calm voice. “Many years later, after you were born, your parents came here to hide something very valuable to us.” She paused and looked around. “It is very mystical and has many forgotten powers. Your mother told me personally that she had hidden it in these ruins, but the only person able to find it would be a close blood relative of hers. Since you are the only member of her great family line left you will be the only one who can find it.”       

    Fredy stepped carefully inside the ruin and looked around. “What am I looking for?” she whispered.             

    “It is an Amulet, a round silver plate with stones on the outside and a seeing eye in the middle, on a long silver chain.” Felicia said. “It is stored in a wooden box.” 

    Fredy walked around, it was now light enough for her to see as she stepped over stones and broken parts of furniture and started to move debris out of her way.                 

    “Please describe what you can see, Frederika, for I would not be able to see the hiding place myself.”   

    “I see a chair. Here is a broken table. There is a part of a window and there is a shelf…” Fredy continued to step over the debris for some time but without any success, there was nothing that looked even remotely like a wooden box. She looked back at Felicia who still stood in the old door frame smiling at her encouragingly. 

    So Fredy searched the debris again and again and she still could not find what the Elder had described. Fredy was sure she had every recognizable piece pointed out to the Elder but again she was asked to continue the search. If she would have been by herself she would have stepped out of the ruin and declare there was no Amulet hidden anywhere. But Fredy was not by herself and so she searched over the same pieces of furniture for a fifth time. And nothing seemed different this time then the times before, at least not to her. She continued with the description of the same furniture. “There is the shelf, a broken window with a whole glass, a table and a chair ...”

    “Wait!” interrupted Felicia, excited. “Where is the window?”                                                                       
  Fredy knelt down in front of it and tried to lift the frame, but she could not.                 

    “I believe we have just found the hiding place. It will have more enchantments to secure its treasure,” said Felicia, now standing behind her.

    “Hold your hand out over the middle of the glass and concentrate on the Amulet.”                   

    Fredy did so and the grimy, glass pane disappeared and revealed a wooden box.                       

     “Yes, I can see the box now,” the Elder said. “Please pick it up.”                                             “What do you want me to do now?” Fredy asked holding the wooden box in her shaking hands.    “Open it. Take the Amulet out and wear it. You are the rightful Heir of the Amulet, or the 'Heir of Medklad,' as we use to call it.”                                                           

    Fredy set the small box down on the part of a broken wall and opened the lid. There it was. The Amulet shone brightly and the stones glittered in the sunlight. She picked the chain up (how heavy it was!) and slowly slid it over her head. Fredy held the silver disc in her hands and saw how beautiful it was. In between the stones were tiny carvings. She could have looked at it for hours, but she felt the Elder's gaze on her and let the Amulet drop. There it was again … the warm secure feeling. She could get used to this. Fredy looked up at Felicia with a smile and saw the old face beaming with pride.                   

    “Frederika, please listen carefully. This Amulet is very powerful and is of the utmost importance to your people. You are not, under any circumstances, to take it off. Do not let anyone take it from you and do not give it to anyone else. This Amulet means everything to us. Some of our young men would even be so hardheaded as to kill anyone who as much as tries to touch it.”      

    Fredy gasped.                                                                

    “Do not worry. We are an extremely peace-loving people.” Felicia smiled. “Since our work is done now, how about some breakfast before we continue home to Willowgrove?”                             

    “Home to Willowgrove…” Another wave of warmth and security flooded Fredy. These words really meant home, the place where she truly belonged. They were the most wonderful words she had ever heard spoken. But then she realized the words were not spoken at all. She could not even remember when Felicia had ever moved her lips, yet Fredy could hear her loud and clear.                             

    Felicia smiled at her and pulled a piece of bread and a small bottle out of a hidden bag under the large folds of her cloak. Fredy took the bread and ate it greedily. In all the excitement, she had forgotten how hungry she was. Surely she would need more than just one small piece of this delicious bread but strangely enough she could not even finish this one piece.            

     When they had finished eating, the Elder stuck the leftover bread and empty bottle back into the bag, stood up and Fredy heard the calm clear voice again, yet without moving lips.

    'Should we continue our journey and bring our new Heir back home to Willowgrove?'                             
 “Yes. Yes, please.”                                                           

    The Elder swung the big cloak to cover both completely, while Fredy held on to the Silverbelt. A moment later, Felicia opened the cloak and said “Welcome to Willowgrove.”                                                                      

    In place of the ruins now stood a big rock. Fredy stood next to the Elder on top of a hill overlooking a lush, green valley framed by yet another thick forest, but this forest was somehow different from the one they had just left.     

    Fredy looked down into the valley and saw a big pond, fields with grains, and vegetable gardens. Paddocks with animals she could not make out in the distance and scattered around the valley were the houses of Willowgrove. She saw the people moving about and many children running and playing.          

    'They are getting ready for the feast in honor of your arrival.'                                                       

    Fredy looked surprised at the people. She had never felt special enough to have a family feast … let alone one with a whole village!

    But Felicia smiled looking into the valley. 'These people have waited a long time for you. You see that house over there, with the small garden and the barn in the back? That is the house of Carl and his wife Emily. They have a daughter called Miriam. She is your age. You will be living with them.' 

    Fredy looked at the small house and had the sudden feeling that the Elder was watching her.          

    'Frederika,' Felicia continued, 'I have to give you something from your dear mother. Please take your time. A bell will ring when the feast is about to start. It will be held in the Meetinghouse, the largest building in the middle of the village. I have to go. The people will be expecting me by now.' She pushed a piece of folded paper into Fredy's hand, turned, and set off down a small path into the valley.    

    Fredy watched the Elder disappear and then stared at the piece of paper in her hand. She sat down next to the big rock, unfolded it and read the last letter her mother had ever written:                                          

          My dear Fredy,                                                   

          My time has come.                                                 

           I have to say goodbye to you.                          

          Felicia will teach you all you will need to know.   

          You will be much more powerful than I ever was. Please be good. 

          I will always be with you.                             

                             Your beloved Mother.

    Fredy's eyes filled with tears. She covered her face and cried.

           

    The bell rang. Was this already the signal for the feast to start? But Fredy was not ready to face these people just yet.  What would they say if she did not show up? Fredy had a numb feeling in her middle, there would be no way she could eat anything anyhow. So many things had happened so fast. Fredy's head started to hurt. She closed her eyes and tried to remember the times she spent with Danielle, her mother, so long ago.

    When Fredy finally opened her eyes again and looked up she was surprised to see how dark it was. She jumped to her feet ready to run down to the village, but she could not see the path anymore!  Confused and alone in the dark, Fredy sat back down at the big rock, while the heavy silver Amulet started to warm up on her skin.                                 

    She thought to herself ‘If all these people were waiting for me for so long, then why isn't anybody missing me?  Someone ... anyone ...?' She dried her tears off and waited.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012


CHAPTER 1:   No. 5 Bellfield Way


           


    It had been cold and gloomy for days and anyone in the Realm knew change was coming. But no one expected anything unusual in this pleasant small neighborhood with it's neat little houses at the edge of the sleepy town. Yet unlike any other row of houses, this street was home to a very special but still unsuspecting eleven year old girl named Frederika Jonquil (Fredy for short) who happened to ran around the street corner at this very moment. 


    She ran passed several houses with her school bag over one shoulder, she jumped over the ornamental hedges and crossed the front yards in between. Until with one last jump, she stopped in the front of No. 5 Bellfield Way.


    Fredy slammed the door against the inside wall with a loud bang and disheveled as she was, ran into the hallway.


  “Oh, Fredy ... you are early.” Her mother rushed toward her, but the girl stormed past her without a word and slammed the door to her bedroom. Mrs. Jonquil closed the front door, head shaking and followed her.                          

    “What happened?” The mother asked calmly.


    “I hate her! I so hate Sammy! I'm not going to school tomorrow or ever again!” Fredy cried into her pillow.


    Mrs. Jonquil took the box of tissues from the dresser and sat down on the bed next to her. “Tell me what happened.”


    Fredy took a moment to calm herself and sat up. She pulled a tissue out of the box and dried the tears from her round cheeks.


    “She ... she told them my … my secret again, but this time she blabbed it out in front of everyone and they all laughed! Even the teacher laughed, and then they said things like ‘you’re a nut!’ andyou don't belong with normal people!’” Fredy broke off, sobbing and collapsing into her mother’s arms.


    “I'm so sorry, Fredy.” said Mrs. Jonquil patting her daughter's back. “But there is no need to worry about these kind of people, you know your secret is special and so are you.”


    Fredy shook her head. “I don't feel very special. You only say that because you are my mom, it's your job.”


    “Oh, Fredy. There is so much more to you than you can imagine. Why don't you go freshen up and come help me with dinner? Your father should be home soon.” She gave her daughter one more hug before she pulled away and walked to the door.


    Fredy wiped the last of her tears off and asked, “Mom, do you think I will ever have a really good friend who doesn't care about my secret?”

    Mrs. Jonquil turned around and smiled at her. “I'm sure you will find many good friends, maybe even some who hear the same voices, and I'm not only saying this because I am your mother,” she said encouragingly and left the room. Fredy took a deep breath and followed her.


    On the way to the kitchen Fredy passed through the spacious living room, when her eyes fell onto the shelf that framed the kitchen door. It was filled with many photographs, all neatly in their own picture frames so lovingly displayed. Nearly all showed Fredy's family; her parents, grandparents and Fredy herself in various ages. The last two years, she shared  the pictures with her long-hoped-for sister Susie. Fredy smiled at the latest photo. Her and Susie had dressed up in matching dresses and smiled widely into the camera. She smiled, remembering that it had been the first time she allowed her mother to buy her a dress and to style her short, brown hair.


    In day to day life Fredy was a real tomboy. She loved wearing jeans and sweatshirts and could not keep them clean for any length of time. Fredy dared everyone to climb the tree in the front yard and did not fuss about scraped knees. 

    If it were not for the kids in school and the constant fights she was in because of her uniqueness she would have been very happy. She loved her little family and wished she could just stay home where her secret had never been a problem. Only now, when she looked at the picture of her and her sister she thought she looked very different from the little round toddler. It was true that similarities were still hard to tell between her and Susie. After all, Susie was still a baby, but Fredy looked different from her parents as well. Her father and mother had dark blond hair and were very slim in build with long-shaped faces. Fredy was tall and big for her age, her face was round, in fact everything about it was round including her eyes, nose, and mouth.


    She shook her head, this was silly. Then her eyes fell onto a different picture on the shelf. It did not really belong in this all family-photo display, but Fredy knew at once who this couple was.


    “Mom?” She picked the small silver frame up and walked into the kitchen. “Mom, wasn't she your friend? What happened to her again?”                        

     Mrs. Jonquil turned away from the stove and looked at the photograph in Fredy's hand. “Oh yes, you mean Danielle. That's her with her husband and you when you were just a few weeks old. They were really good friends of your granddads but when they both got very sick, we took them in and cared for them. Her husband died first. You were too small to remember him, but you should remember Danielle. She died ... is it already five years? Yes, she died on your 7th birthday.”


    Fredy looked down at the picture. “I think I remember her, I really liked her long hair and pretty smile.”


    “Oh, yes. Her smile was pretty and no one could stay mad once she decided to make everyone around her happy, but Fredy please set the frame back on the shelf I need your help.”



    After dinner, Fredy returned to her bedroom. She told her parents she had a lot of homework to do and she had every intention to start with it straight away, but when she settled down on her bed with her 6th grade history book, Fredy did not even open it. For days she had this strange feeling as if something was about to happen, she could not explain the feeling, but somehow she has had the same sense about her secret. She shock her head feeling silly. Fredy wanted to open her book again but then all of the sudden her thoughts drifted back to the picture on the living room shelf, to Danielle's long brown hair and her radiant smile. She had been always so happy, even when she was so sick.

    Fredy wished she could be as happy with her secret among other kids as Danielle had been with her illness. How could Danielle stand to live from day to day knowing her husband had already died of the same illness and this would be her fade too. Fredy's secret was that she heard voices before she went to sleep every night and there was nothing wrong with her, no illness, nothing. But every night around the same time her head was invaded by those voices. They never said anything terrifying to her, most of the time they were nice voices, like phone calls of people who wanted to check up on someone. But Fredy could not get use to them nor ignore them and most of the time she was woken up by them which gave her a paralyzing fear of the darkness.                                                      


    Fredy laid back on her bed thinking for a long time. She was unable to get Danielle out of her thoughts, not that Fredy could remember her very much, other than that she wore old fashion clothes and kept her hair long. All what Fredy wanted was for the kids in school to accept her the way she was.


    Soon Fredy felt very tired and her eyes became so heavy that she could not hold them open anymore.  


   


    'Good evening, Frederika.' A woman's voice spoke up and at once Fredy's eyes popped wide open and her heart began to race. 'I hope you had a good day.'                                                                                                                                                                  


    NO, NO, STOP IT!” Fredy called out, holding her ears shut with both hands. She knew it did not matter if her eyes were open or not, she could not see the speaker, just hear her in her head. The woman's voice faded away and a soft voice of a boy became clearer.


    'Hey Frederika, we are all so very exited, I made sure there will be a lot of food when you … '


    “NO!” Fredy screamed. But then she put both hands over her mouth remembering her baby sister was sleeping next door. So Fredy screamed in her head … in her thoughts. 'NO! NO! I don't want this anymore! I want you to go away!'


     The boy's voice had stopped in the middle of the sentence as if he had heard her.         


    'You don't want any food?'                                                                           

   “What?” Fredy said out loud. She had always heard these voices  for as long as she could remember, but they had never communicated with her. Fredy sat up in the dark room, rubbing her forehead with both hands.                       

    'What's going on?' she thought to herself.      


    'You don't want any food? Are you crazy, girl? That is the best thing about the … .'       


    'No. I meant I don't want to hear your voices any more. But who are you anyway?' Fredy thought.  She calmed herself. Fredy never thought that she could communicate with these voices and something inside her made her more curious than afraid.              


    'Well ... mm ... I don't think I can tell you that. I don't want to get in trouble. You see, I'm not of age yet. I am sorry I channeled you.' The boy's voice faded away.        


    Fredy was confused, 'getting in trouble', 'not of age' and what was this channeling he talked about? 'Wait! Wait! What is your name?' Fredy asked, but there was no answer nor did she hear any other voice until she was awoken very late that night.