Chapter 29

Mai wasn't sure why she did it, but she Jumped herself back to the MacTay home grounds and began searching for Kashmana. There was something about him she just couldn't get out of her system, even after he tried to prove himself a jerk; somehow she still felt like she needed him and it was intoxicating. As she continued to make her way through the grounds, an ominous dark cloud began looming over her. There was something about the place which was too quiet, as though no one were home. But it was more than that, it was…

'This old man, he played one, he played knickknack on my thumb,' a thin, sweet, haunting voice began singing out to her. 'With a knickknack paddy-whack give a dog a bone, this old man came rolling home.'

'Kasey,' Mai gasped, suddenly feeling more exposed than she ever had in her life.

'This old man, he played two, he played knickknack on my shoe. With a knickknack paddy-whack give a dog a bone, this old man came rolling home.'

'Kasey where are you,' she tried to sound more confident than she felt. 'I need to talk to you. I need to explain…'

'This old man, he played three,' the voice lost some of its sweetness and began to sound almost darkly aggressive, 'he played knickknack on my knee. With a knickknack paddy-whack give a dog a bone, this old man came rolling home.'

'Kasey I mean it,' she swallowed hard, 'I have to explain why things have happened the way they have. I promise I won't lie to you, please show yourself.'

'This old man, he played four, he played knickknack on my door. With a knickknack paddy-whack give a dog a bone, this old man came rolling home.'

'Kasey,' her voice lost all the confidence it had, as she strained to make herself heard, 'Kasey please, I need to talk to you, won't you listen to me?'

'This old man, he played five, he played knickknack on a hive. With a knickknack paddy-whack give a dog a bone, this old man came rolling home.'

Giving up trying to call her out, Mai now desperately tried to source out where she was. She knew there was little point in running until she knew which direction Kasey was hiding in; if she just concentrated she could work it out.

'This old man, he played six, he played knickknack on some sticks. With a knickknack paddy-whack give a dog a bone, this old man came rolling home. This old man, he played seven, he played knickknack up in heaven…' for a moment Kasey's voice cut off sharply, as though the word itself was a threat.

A few minutes of long, drawn out silence evaporated around them, as Mai could do nothing but hold her breath and wait.

'With a knickknack paddy-whack give a dog a bone,' Kasey pulled herself out of hiding, breaking the silence as she did, 'this old hag came rolling home.'

'Kasey,' Mai backed away slightly.

There was something different about her now. Something which oozed with a strange kind of power. Evil power. Something had made her stronger than she had been and corrupted her beyond repair in the process. Swallowing hard Mai couldn't help but wonder how Duke had allowed such a thing to happen to his daughter. After all, even if he'd lost all sense of free will surely…

'When I was one I sucked my thumb the day I went to sea,' Kasey began singing again, 'I jumped aboard a pirate's ship and the captain said to me. 'We're going this way, that way, forwards, backwards, over the Irish sea, a bottle of rum to fill my tum and that's the life for me'.'

As she finished singing, Mai found herself stood on the deck of an old wooden ship. Around her it was raining so heavily it was almost impossible to hear or see anything but water. As the weight of the water forced her to her knees, she began to wonder exactly what the child had in store for her next.

'When I was two, I tied my shoe the day I went to see,' somehow Kasey's voice reached her with an unnerving kind of clarity above the roaring of the water, 'I jumped aboard a pirate's ship and the captain said to me. 'We're going this way, that way, forwards, backwards, over the Irish sea, a bottle of rum to fill me tum and that's the life for me'.'

As Kasey sang the movement of the boat became rougher and rougher, as though it was trying to throw Mai off into the ocean. But with the amount of water already crashing down on her, throwing her out to see seemed completely pointless. After all, she was pretty sure she could drown on deck right now.

'When I was three I scraped my knee the day I went to sea, I jumped aboard a pirate's ship, and the captain said to me…'

'We're going this way, that way, forwards, backwards, over the Irish sea, a bottle of rum to fill my tum and that's the life for me,' Mai found herself murmuring.

She didn't know why, but as she started completing the chant, the sea and the rain became calmer. It was as if she was in a game with Kasey and all she had to do was win. The only problem was, she didn't know the rules to the game, Kasey did. And Kasey probably had the power to change them at her own will.

'You think you're so clever, don't you liar,' Kasey's voice hissed at her. 'Well you're not. You can't beat me, you can only lose.'

'So this is a game then,' Mai somehow managed to pull herself to her feet. 'We're playing a game?'

'What do you think liar?'

'I'm not a liar Kasey; I'm your Una Mai.'

'You're a liar. You took my Mummy from me.'

'No, that was the Teen.'

'LIAR!'

'Kasey, listen to me, I'm not the liar here, I swear.'

'Liar, you must be punished.'

'By death?'

'Yes, then you can never lie to anyone ever again.'

'Is that what your Ulk Teen told you?'

'Yes.'

'And Ulk Teen never lies?'

'Why would he lie to me?'

'Because he wants me dead.'

'Because you're a liar.'

'No,' she shook her head, 'he wants me dead because I'm the only one who can save Ulk Veronie from him.'

'Liar!'

'I'm not lying Kasey, he has Ulk Veronie held captive and I just want to save him. That's why the Teen wants me dead.'

'Liar! Ulk Teen would never hurt someone unless they hurt him first. So he's not hurt Ulk Veronie, you must have. Don't blame him for your own wickedness liar.'

'I'm not lying Kasey.'

'Yes you are,' as she screamed the words, the storm around them picked up speed. 'And liars must be punished. Liars must die!'