You can read the story so far from the beginning here
“Tom has been going frantic,” Magnus said. He leaned against the cellar wall and gestured upwards. The sound of Tom swearing on the shop floor above filtered down. “It was already chaos before we found the cellar and the extra building work needed to make a proper entrance.”
“I have left it completely in his hands,” Lord Peregrine said. “And I am convinced that he’s doing a good job.” He wandered over to the makeshift bed now gathering dust on the cellar floor. “I doubt we can learn much more from these fragments left behind,” he said. “We may as well permit Tom to clear the cellar.”
“You know he’ll do a good job,” Magnus said. “He’s thorough, honest and hardworking.”
“He has also threatened to rip the head off more than one contractor,” Lord Peregrine said happily. “Due to his experience on building sites, he is proving extremely competent at getting the new stores ready to open.”
Magnus picked up the straw pallet and gave it a brisk shake. Dust flew and hung in the cold, still air of the cellar, illuminated by the bright work light that Tom had brought down. “I notice that you have a man who knows construction as a store manager,” he said. “And you have an IT specialist as his assistant. Why do you think that two men with no experience whatsoever can run what is effectively a grocery store with a small café attached?”
“And hardware,” Lord Peregrine said. “And such gardening implements and supplies as they think fit. And perhaps some kitchenware.”
“And all of that stuff,” Magnus said. “Neither of them has ever sold a thing.”
“I consulted Jed at the Farm Shop,” Lord Peregrine said smugly. “I thought deeply about what would happen if the new stores sold in competition to the Farm Shop and what would happen if the new stores sold in partnership. It makes far more sense for me to work with Jed. I’ve already agreed that all the ingredients for the food in the café should come from his Farm Shop as much as possible.”
Magnus looked at him thoughtfully. “And how about the rest of it?”
“There are many things that Jed does not wish to sell, but that his customers request,” Lord Peregrine said. “He would prefer if Tom handled the plants and gardening side.”
“But Jed grows those plants,” Magnus said.
Lord Peregrine shrugged. “But he would rather that Tom dealt with the sales. He told me that his customers often request items like screws, nails, glue, envelopes and suchlike. Apparently people always request string.”
Magnus eyed his lord suspiciously. “What deal did you make?” he asked.
Lord Peregrine shrugged. “I agreed to encourage his crops for the next ten years in return for him allowing us to sell all the cake making and cookery items,” he said. “Which makes sense as Hilary will be baking here. Tom can order a large quantity of such things as flour and any surplus can go onto the shelves.” He grinned smugly. “I’m considering where my bargaining should like for extending more protection over the livestock on the farm. There is less livestock, but Jed has little interest in stocking cleaning supplies. He will be indifferent if we also stock such things as sprays and cloths. And I refuse to have frozen products here in case we are forced to stock chicken nuggets.”
“There’s nothing wrong with chicken nuggets,” Magnus said. “And you’ll have ice cream.”
“That’s different,” Lord Peregrine said with an airy wave of his hand. “But we should concentrate on what we can learn here of our pooka.”
Magnus frowned as he looked at the basic straw mattress. “Let me run through this,” he said. “It’s pretty certain that there’s a pooka on the loose, right?”
Lord Peregrine nodded. “The mischief that has been cause seems to be exactly the sort of thing an angry pooka would do, especially the problems with the milk.”
“And you and Cabus remember a pooka called Samgan that went missing?” Magnus continued.
“That is correct,” Lord Peregrine said. He looked away from Magnus. “I was dormant for a while and some things were… neglected. Cabus has never spent much time with the rest of the supernaturals, at least, not unless I insist, so he can’t give any details.”
“And could Samgan moved or died of old age?” Magnus said.
“He was barely a sprite when I withdrew,” Lord Peregrine said. “And pookas can live for a long time. By the standards of pookas, he is still young. And I believe it is unlikely that he would have moved away. I always had the feeling that he was tied to this land in a similar way to me.”
“Bracken’s family moved away,” Magnus said.
Lord Peregrine shook his head. “Brownies and pookas are alike, but not the same. I believe that brownies do get attached, but Bracken’s family didn’t feel that there was enough for them to do. Brownies have a deep need to be useful, and if they couldn’t find it here then they would have to find it elsewhere. It’s about the only thing that would get them to move.”
Magnus poked around the bag and moved the small glass bottle, now filled with dried and dead flowers, to check underneath the tray. “So Samgan was likely to stay here unless things were desperate, right?” he said. “And pookas don’t need to be useful the same way as brownies.”
“They don’t need to be useful, but they can be a wonderful blessing,” Lord Peregrine said. “Samgan was especially valuable at harvest time.”
“But he’s been missing,” Magnus said. “He had to have gone somewhere.”
“He could have been trapped somewhere,” Lord Peregrine said cautiously. “I hadn’t thought about it, but if he had been trapped, then that would explain how angry he was and why he was causing so much trouble.”
“And if he had lived in the area for a long time, he would know about the cellar and that it was blocked off.” Magnus set down the tray. “I’m trying to fit things together but if it’s a puzzle then I’m missing most of the pieces. Samgan, who was a reasonable being, was trapped somewhere for quite a long time. This made him angry.”
“That fits with the facts that I know,” Lord Peregrine said.
“He somehow escaped recently,” Magnus continued. “Something changed and he got away from whatever was holding him.”
“I wonder if it was the landslip that followed your battle with your brother,” Lord Peregrine said. “His unexpected ally caused considerable damage.”
“I put it all to rights afterwards,” Magnus said curtly.
Lord Peregrine shook his head. “I believed one of the stones of power that appeared while I was sleeping was dislodged. If Samgan’s prison, if it was a prison, relied on those stones of power, then that movement may have been enough to allow Samgan to escape.”
“What stones of power?” Magnus said. “The stone circles on the hills weren’t affected.”
Lord Peregrine shook his head impatiently. “I mean the other stones, the new ones.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Samgan gets out and he’s angry. He may not be quite sane if he was trapped for some time.” He looked down at the crumpled blanket. It had fallen from the pallet, but still showed the form of having been neatly folded. He picked it up. “But there is hope. This blanket may be old and worn, but it is clean and there was a hole that has been mended. There was an attempt at comfort, and even a desire for beauty.” Lord Peregrine dropped the blanket and reached out a finger to run over the glass bottle. “These flowers were once so beautiful before the water dried up and they fell into their container. They were arranged by a being who cared, and that gives us hope. If we can find Samgan and give him assurances and right any wrongs, perhaps he can once again be the good being that he once was.”
Magnus picked up the blanket, shook it out and folded it. “Who would have captured him?” he asked eventually.
Lord Peregrine shrugged. “Samgan could be a nuisance, but he rarely caused enough trouble to warrant being trapped. He may have found himself accidentally caught up in greater magic.” He frowned. “It may be caught up in those new power stones.”
“You’ll have to explain that to me,” Magnus said. “Nobody builds stone circles these days.”
“Magic still flows in streams, just as it has since the land was born,” Lord Peregrine said. “And there are still those who try and control that flow. I’m aware of attempts to dam and divert magic through various means over the last few hundred years, but few succeed. These stones that are placed all over our valley are successful but twisted. It would explain a lot about the magic flow in our lands.”
“We need to get rid of those stones!” Magnus said. “I’ll call up the family.”
“We need to find Samgan,” Lord Peregrine said. “And we have to be careful removing the stones. There could be a severe backlash and it could cause a lot of damage. We need to think about it carefully.”
“Who would have put those stones there?” Magnus asked.
“The answer will probably be in the notebooks,” Lord Peregrine said. “That is, if the witches took proper notes. That will have to wait.”
Magnus looked around the cellar. “Samgan came here because he knew it would be dry, out of the way and not too cold,” he said. “He knew that he could stay hidden.”
“Indeed,” Lord Peregrine said. “It was an intelligent choice.”
“We need to search places like this,” Magnus said. “That’s how we’ll find Samgan. Something uninhabited, I think, because he’s angry, but that can give him shelter.”
“People have lived in these hills and valleys for thousands of years,” Lord Peregrine said. “And many made hideaways and shelters that have been forgotten. There are a lot of places to search.”
“What about that old chapel up on the hill?” Magnus asked. “No-one goes near there because it’s so out of the way, and there’s still enough of it standing to give shelter, and he could perhaps even light a fire.”
“If we could give him shelter, even in my hall, it would perhaps make him listen to us,” Lord Peregrine said. “Pookas, like brownies, can make themselves comfortable, but if it is Samgan after a long captivity, he will find it hard going. Winter is setting in and he left his blanket behind.” He nodded decisively. “We can head up to the old chapel now. If you allow us to take one of those wonderful quad contraptions, we can get there in perhaps less than an hour.”
“I hope that he’ll listen to us,” Magnus said. “If I was trapped for decades and then left out in the cold, I wouldn’t want to listen to reason.”
“My hall is open to all my subjects,” Lord Peregrine said. “And it is clean and furnished with cushions and throws now that the Lesken sisters are there.” He grinned wickedly. “But if we need to strike a harder bargain, there are still empty rooms at Rowan Cottage. Hilary would enjoy having him as a guest.”
Magnus stared at him. “You couldn’t ask Hilary to take him in,” he said. “Not on top of her taking in another witch and a werewolf without warning.” Lord Peregrine’s grin grew wider. Magnus shook his head. “She’ll stop feeding you if you’re not careful,” he said.
“I have confidence in my persuasive powers,” Lord Peregrine said. “What could possibly go wrong?”
Magnus sighed deeply. “I haven’t got enough time to tell you,” he said.
