1

‘Andrew Cooper shall never join the Agency.’

The man’s voice was feeble, his brow was wrinkled, his eyes faded. His gaunt face gave the appearance of having lived a hundred years. ‘Your plans will never, ever be reality,’ he whispered. Each word cost him a huge effort, but they had an unpleasant effect on the thin woman standing in front of him. Tall and mean, she struck a sharp contrast with the man; even as she laughed, she seemed displeased that his prisoner had some resistance left in him.

‘Andrew Cooper cannot be kept from the Agency any more than a hero can be kept from his downfall,’ she hissed, in reply. ‘And the Agency, with its infernal pride, will soon be crumbling down, brick by brick, and you will watch it fall- watch all your friends trying to hold it up, and being crushed under the devastation.’

The prisoner shook his head as if reassuring himself, which made his enemy laugh even louder. ‘You are lonely here, aren’t you?’ Now her silken voice was sympathetic and her deep sunken grey eyes widened with malice. ‘How would you like your old associates from the Agency to be here, beside you?’

‘You’ll never have them,’ muttered the old man. ‘Never, while Alex has breath in his body – ’

‘Fools, all of them,’ interrupted the other, contemptuously.

‘But why, Iniuria?’ murmured the prisoner. ‘Think again… what you are doing…’

‘Revenge! The foundation is laid, the trap is woven, the Agency is standing on frail pillars. The last stroke remains…’

‘The Agency will never fall- the Agency will never fall,’ rambled the poor man, rocking back and forth. But his words were silenced in a mad cackle of laughter that seemed to echo from the walls and in its very venom, drown out everything else.

1

Andrew Cooper wondered, in those last few minutes, what would have happened if he hadn’t gone back to the oak tree. Doubtlessly he would not have been here now, listening to the timer ticking away his life. He closed his eyes, and once more he could see the Himalayan range rolling on forever into the horizon, while the cool breeze whipped about his ears. He could feel his bow slung on his shoulder and the quiver rubbing against his back, and he remembered thinking that this was bliss, even despite the soldiers who were on their trail with revolvers.

He remembered Chamborough headquarters and how its welcome felt like home. He remembered drinking from the clear streams and trekking down those mossy paths, running a desperate race for their lives. He remembered fighting to the death at the fence and the heartache of having a friend wrenched away. He was in the airplane now, lurching as it dived to avoid the missiles. He remembered how Rachna’s face had looked before they had said goodbye to her- forever. Friends…

He saw all his friends again: Hamid, Armaan, Rachna, Vanessa, Julian, Kenzie… He could see her face, her green eyes and sarcastic smile, and suddenly he was back on the cliff with her on that dark night, so beautiful and yet so dangerous. He wished they’d been given a chance- he wished he’d taken the chance when he’d had it.

He knew his answer now, even as the regular clicking of the seconds elapsing caused panic to bubble up in the pit of his stomach. ‘I’m glad I went back…I’m glad.’ And then he could see Chamborough as it had looked when they had arrived, all that time ago- a universe ago, although it was only a few weeks. That had been where it all begun…

*

1

Chamborough was a quaint little district on the outskirts of England. Time had touched it with gentle fingers and it crawled along while the world raced- and yet it held its own charm, and therefore it was not altogether surprising that Andrew Cooper looked forward to his visit there. Mixed with excitement was a certain apprehension because, although the Coopers held residence in London, Chamborough occupied a major role in their history and Andrew knew none, or only a part, of it.

Michelle Cooper, his mother, was native to Chamborough and extremely fond of it. Her insistence had often brought the family here from London in the holidays, everybody finding something to occupy them in this slow-paced little hamlet.

However, it had been three years since Number 16 had held any life. Three long years… in fact, they had not visited ever since the death of Charles Cooper.

But finally the doors of Number 16, Chamborough were thrown opened and its mistress has stepped inside, regarding the hallway she had not seen since her husband had died. Number 16 was secluded from the rest of the small village. Placed on the edge, it faced a small, wild growth of trees which was called ‘the woods’ by the people of Chamborough. The house stood regal, the only one for quite a distance around it.

The weather, which was always pleasant in Chamborough, was pleasant today. A gentle sort of harmless breeze, which always blew in Chamborough, blew today. Andy considered his surroundings with a smile and also a little wistfulness. This very place, this very house had been where he had last seen his father. Shaking such dismal thoughts from his mind, he proceeded to lug his luggage through the dusty door, up the staircase into his room which bid him a doleful ‘hello’ from underneath its six layers of dust.

Making his way downstairs again, he encountered Michelle, who sighed at the sight of him. Andy, guessing that maternal love was not blossoming, asked her meekly whether she required any help.

‘Oh no, Joanna and Georgia and all the rest are soon going to be coming and helping me out. What I require from you, Andy, is that you will buzz off to some place where you cannot come in the way. Emily will be at Rex’s place ’til evening. Now get along with you.’

Emily Cooper was Andy’s sister, older by three years, and Rex Jordan was one of Andy’s friends, whose sister got along very well with Emily.

A minute later Andy was strolling into the woods, enjoying his walk. The sun was shining, the trees were swaying and there was nothing to disturb peace in the vicinity. Well, except that, Andy thought with a frown. The ‘that’ to which he referred was a man, who was walking towards Andy from the depths of the woods. Andy’s frown deepened as the man started at the sight of Andy and hurried past him, muttering to himself. Andy had never, in all his wanderings into the woods, ever seen anyone else there. Putting the occurrence down as one of nature’s unexplained phenomena, he walked on.

Not two minutes had passed when he got another shock. His ears, trustworthy so far, were informing him that some human voices were at work close by. The surprising thing was that Andy could see no-one, human or not, in any direction for quite a stretch.

As the voices got louder and louder, they seemed to be coming from underground. Andy stepped back in surprise when suddenly the trunk of the tree in front of him split apart revealing a grayish, seemingly metal door.

Andy watched in utter amazement as a boy and a girl stepped out of the door and started, in their turn, at the sight of him. For about three seconds, no-one spoke.

‘Hey!’ said Andy, as the most intelligent thing he could think of.

‘Hello,’ greeted the girl, calmly. She was tall and thin and her transparent green eyes glinted in the sunlight. She was so pale that her black hair made a noticeable contrast; that and the effect of a sharp nose and high cheekbones made her look dangerous. Andy instinctively felt like backing away.

‘I am Kenzie and this is Julian,’ she indicated her companion, who looked away and said ‘Hello’ to the adjacent bush. Andy knew instantly what she was doing: playing for time. He had read it in books.

‘You’re Andrew Cooper, aren’t you?’ she continued, as if she was under orders to introduce everyone present.

‘Wha- How do you know?’ exclaimed Andy, taken aback. He half-expected her to say, ‘We are all-knowing aliens who live in trees and eat people. Now die!’

However, she merely shrugged and said, ‘Chamborough’s not a big village. News gets around.’

‘You came out of that tree,’ accused Andy, wishing to avoid pleasantries and get to the point. The door had closed and the bark of the tree had covered it up again. Andy sidled to the side to get a better view.

‘I understand how it might have seemed that way,’ she said, slowly and then tilting her head slightly she considered him and added, ‘The thing to keep in mind is that… appearances can be deceptive.’ The boy, Julian, nodded as if agreeing entirely and trying to convince the bush likewise.

Andy had opened his mouth to speak, although admittedly he couldn’t think of anything to say to this strange announcement, when she interrupted him.

‘Well,’ she said, as if the interview had concluded. ‘Good-day to you, Andrew. If you’ll forgive us, we have to be on our way.’

Saying which, she proceeded to murmur something to her companion, who nodded at his shoes after sneaking a glance at Andy. They made as if to turn away, but some miracle spurred Andy’s thinking processes and he had the presence of mind to say, ‘Hey!’ once more.

‘Well?’ said the girl impatiently. And then realizing that he was unlikely to say anything more for a while, she asked, ‘You are Andrew Cooper?’

Andy nodded.

‘Then come over here the same time tomorrow and we may have some answers for you. If,’ she added as an afterthought, ‘you are able to ask any questions.’

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

And then the two of them walked away into the woods, leaving him to stare at their receding figures dumbly. Who were they and where could they be going? Did they have any relation with the man whom Andy had met earlier? And how the heck had they appeared from a tree? Andy made a note of the time (one fifteen exactly) and then began his investigation of the Mysterious Oak Tree.

He circled it observantly a few times but could but could discover no traces of any secret trapdoor whatsoever. Finally as a last resort, he told it to open. ‘Open up. Open sesame. Open hole-in-the-tree.’ Giving it up after a few more attempts, Andy arrived at the theory that Kenzie, Julian and the mysterious tree elevator had never existed and had been only the creation of an over-active imagination.

The evening passed away in paying visits to his old family friends- Rex, Tim, Anthony…all of whom he hadn’t seen in such a long time. It was a fun-filled evening and yet Andy was slightly distracted… …tomorrow at the same time.

2

Andy announced over breakfast the next day that he would be spending the afternoon in the woods again. The next day dawned bright, clear and ideal for discovering mysterious routes into trees. Michelle, who had been buttering a piece of toast, stopped suddenly. ‘Why?’ she asked, sharply.

Andy was taken aback. It was no secret to his family that he loved the woods. It was as his mother knew what had happened yesterday. Then Andy remembered that Michelle had spent her entire childhood here in this district. Even if the woods did hide some secret, about which he was doubtful, she had probably discovered it years back. ‘Well… I dunno. Generally,’ he replied, trying to speak nonchalantly.

Michelle resumed buttering her toast while scrutinizing his face. Andy looked into his plate intensely, as if he was examining it for flies. He was hiding a multitude of confused feelings. He recalled Rex’s behaviour last evening.

Rex had greeted him as usual, with a fist-bump which had nearly fractured Andy’s knuckles. Tall, dark and very well built, Rex was great fun if you loved sustaining minor injuries every now and then. He was a natural at most sports and his hobbies included goofing around with a basketball and punching people genially. He had a great sense of humour along with good-nature which generally made him a ‘very nice young fellow’, as he was often described in Chamborough.

Anyway, yesterday Andy had received quite a few strange looks from him after his preliminary ‘What’s up, bro?’Subtlety had never been Rex’s strong point and it had not taken long for Andy to deduce that something was troubling him. On putting the question to Rex bluntly he had laughed nervously and said something about Piri Veepu, who was his favourite rugby player, as he proceeded to explain. Andy, who frankly didn’t give a damn and said as much, asked him to get to the point, to which he had given him a friendly slap on the back, thus spraining it, and replied that he liked Tiger Woods’ technique. Andy had given him up as a lost cause.

At breakfast, he noticed Emily throwing him more than one resentful glance and looking away quickly when she caught his eye. Though there was never perfect harmony between brother and sister, their disagreements generally about Whose turn is it today to clear the table or Who dropped the iPod and scratched it or Who should go and get the puncture removed from the bicycle, this was unusual behaviour, even for Emily. As Michelle disappeared into the kitchen, Emily leaned over and whispered urgently:

‘I’ll give you a piece of advice, Andy. Don’t fool around here with what’s not your business. Believe me, it’s important.’

Andy looked at her, all astonishment, but Michelle returned at that moment, eyeing Emily suspiciously.

‘Just telling him to stay out of the garden,’ shrugged Emily, ‘I’m going back to my gardening now that we’re here.’

There was something he was missing in the entire affair, and Andy wondered what it was. He had a short mental debate with himself as to whether he should keep his appointment with his friends Julian and Kenzie. There was an odd feeling in his spine about it, and Emily had as good as warned him to stay clear of any funny business. Not that he cared what Emily told him, but this seemed, as she had said, important. But surely there was no harm in checking it out? It wasn’t like he wouldn’t be able to back out later, right? He was just having a bit of fun, and neither Emily nor Michelle need ever know.

It was a relief to get out of the house after settling his stuff into his room- which was considerably cleaner after Michelle and her old friends had taken it up as their mission with aprons and masks. They had celebrated at dinner together at Mrs. Stuart’s place and it had been like a welcome for the Coopers- a typical Chamborough party.

Andy tried to walk casually. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that Michelle suspicious eyes were drilling holes into his back from the kitchen window and could think of no earthly reason for this, other than the possibility that Chamborough was hiding a deep dark hitherto unknown secret, the idea of which he found laughable. He wondered what he would find on reaching the tree. Would Kenzie and Julian, as they called themselves, even turn up?

This question was satisfied a little while later when he discovered the above, the girl with her arms crossed and foot tapping away impatiently on the forest floor.

‘You’re late,’ she greeted, disdainfully, as if she considered unpunctuality a criminal offence.

Andy protested, as he had taken pains to be on time, although usually lax about punctuality, but here Julian said, without referring to his watch, that it was one minute past. He looked at Kenzie as if for assurance and she smiled slightly at him as if offering it, though somewhat exasperatedly. Andy looked at Julian curiously and wondered at the way he spoke- his nervous stammering and way of never meeting the eyes. But he was too impatient to be thinking of side-issues.

A silence ensued, which made Andy feel exceedingly awkward. Mentally rushing though possible subjects for conversation and dismissing weather, he hit upon introducing himself, forgetting that Kenzie had already done so yesterday. ‘Well, I’m Andy-’

‘-Cooper.’ Julian finished, then glancing upwards and twiddling his fingers.

‘Er…yeah. Do you guys live here?’ said Andy, trying once more for flow of speech and addressing Julian rather than Kenzie, as the less intimidating of the two.

‘Yes,’ said Julian, ‘but I do not know you. Nor-nor do you me.’ Here he paused, as if calculating something. ‘We are almost perfect strangers.’

Andy was prevented from reacting to this ominous declaration by Kenzie, who announced that it was time they got going. Andy felt a fresh thrill of excitement.

He watched closely as she stepped closer to the oak tree and waited for a moment, as if in anticipation. Andy managed with difficulty to keep his lower jaw, which was tending to drop, firmly attached to the upper as the events of last afternoon repeated themselves and the elevator reappeared in the trunk of the tree. He would have spouted a few questions then and there as Julian dutifully followed Kenzie into the elevator but there was something about her which discouraged questions. So he too stepped silently into the tree, his stomach lurching as the doors slid shut smoothly. The walls of the elevator were transparent, presumably made of thick glass and a dim blue light shone in the darkness, reflecting eerily off Andy’s companion’s faces.

He could make out Kenzie was looking for something and cursing under her breath. Forgetting his wariness, he put forward a question tentatively as she exclaimed with relief, apparently having located what she was searching for.

‘I say- what is all this?’ Pretty straightforward it seemed to Andy, a simple sensible question, but he got no reply. Instead Kenzie turned around – Andy couldn’t exactly see what she did but the next instant all his queries were forgotten as the elevator sprang into downward motion, dropping into the darkness below.

Andy held on for dear life to a cold metal bar which was mercifully provided for newcomers like himself who preferred not to be plunging to possible death with nothing to hold on to. But it had hardly been ten seconds when it stopped as suddenly as it had started- that is to say, very abruptly. The glass doors slid open again, as did the metal doors in front of which the elevator had stopped. Andy, who had presently been occupied with the weak feeling in his knees, was awed at the sight in front of him. There was a large room in front of them, lit by a brighter light. It had a polished floor, painfully clean floor. Three wooden desks dominated the centre, complete with notepads, stationery, and even a laptop on the one on the right. There was another door opposite the one at which they were standing. Andy wondered where it led -but there were more pressing matters at hand.

Kenzie walked into the strange room without a backward glance; Julian, who Andy figured was friendlier, beckoned at him shyly to follow them.

Emily’s warning echoed in Andy’s ears, but there was nothing to be done; mustering up his courage, he stepped inside.