The Phoenix and the Witch

by H. M. Gooden

  Evelyn nodded, thoughtfully considering the cheese in her sandwich with an intense stare as she composed her answer.

  "I think this'll be a useful experience for us, but my main concern is that things may start to happen, on the evil front that is, before Vanessa and Mai get here."

  "Maybe. But there's not much we can do about it if it does. We have to keep our eyes open and make sure that we stay aware of our surroundings. There may be more people like the ones we came across before stuff went down in San Francisco, but we don't know that for sure. Maybe they all disappeared when we got rid of Dub."

  Evelyn crossed her arms. "I doubt it's that easy."

  Cat gave a half-hearted shrug. "Not much we can do about it, either way."

  They ate the rest of their lunch in silence, processing the events of the morning. Class time looked to be more instructive than they'd thought, but it made both girls worry about the events that were unfolding. Talking to Robin was a priority, but without the normal fairy glade near their home, they weren't sure how to find him. They went about their afternoon, doing the readings Dr. Brown had recommended, before Zahara met them. She looked cheerful and more relaxed than she'd been since they'd first met her. Cat noticed that her aura had a steady and strong green glow and knew that Zahara had been practicing, as she'd said she would when she'd spoken with Dr. Brown.

  "How'd the morning go? Did you learn anything interesting? Or was it all dry and dull Shakespeare, blah blah blah?" Zahara's eyes sparkled with amusement. She knew very well that they hadn't been studying boring Shakespeare.

  "It was good. Dr. Brown's twice as bouncy as Mr. Grayson when it comes to imparting wisdom. He also gives more homework."

  Cat's last sentence faded into a grumble. She demonstrated the pile of books that she'd accumulated, before changing the subject.

  "Listen Zahara, Evelyn and I have been thinking. We'd like to talk to Robin, if it's possible. Dr. Brown said he'd look into it, but we want to know what to expect and I'm not sure if we can afford to wait on Dr. Brown. Robin's always one step ahead when it comes to this stuff and we're out of our element, so to speak. Is there a place nearby that you know of where this can happen?"

  Zahara looked at the girls, biting her lip as she thought.

  "I can take you back to my parent's garden on the weekend, but I can't guarantee that Robin will come. It's kind of hit and miss, even for an earth power calling for an audience with him. He's the big Kahuna around these parts and all we can do is show up and wait. He'll decide if we deserve a visit."

  "That would be great," Cat said, with relief.

  They still had to get through the week, but this at least gave them the potential for answers, even if it ended up leaving them with more questions, which was often the case after talking to Robin.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The rest of the week at the university flew by. Dr. Brown was a lively and engaging preceptor and Cat found herself involved in her studies in a way she hadn't expected to be. While she'd never thought of herself as having any talent in a library, she was enjoying the searching and learning that her project involved. She'd always loved reading, but discovered that the history of Shakespeare and the magic of the British Isles were deeply, personally interesting. It not only filled in so many of the questions she'd had over the last few years, but also made her feel an even stronger connection to previous generations of her family. Cat could imagine her grandmother in Edinburgh and wished that she'd known her from more than just the content of the journals that she'd left for her. For the first time since her accident and the crazy spiral of discoveries that had featured in her life ever since, Cat felt that maybe, just maybe, she could have a career to look forward to as a historian.

  Evelyn was a trooper as always, remaining highly organized. She wasn't getting the same soul-deep satisfaction from doing research that Cat was, but was doing a thorough job as usual, discovering interesting facts of her own. By the time Friday arrived, Evelyn was more than ready for a road trip, yet Cat was surprised to find it difficult to drag herself away from the books.

  "I'm shocked you're so engrossed in this stuff, Cat. I mean, it's interesting and all, but you've never had much love for English before."

  Cat pushed her hair off her neck, writing down one last thought before closing the book in front of her then looking up at Evelyn sheepishly.

  "Yeah, I'm surprised too. But I think that this may be something I can work toward. I've been kind of lost, like I don't have much of a future next year, when school is done. But now I think maybe I could go to university to study history, to focus on this type of stuff. Like folklore and magic. You know, the stuff we've been forced to deal with for the last few years. I want to know more and I think this could be my calling"

  Evelyn smiled at Cat's earnest explanation.

  "Well, I'm glad you feel that way. I think that Professor McLean has a nice ring to it. I still plan to open up my own little psychic enterprise next year, but I'll have absolutely no problem using anything you learn that helps me out." She winked saucily at Cat just as Zahara arrived.

  "Oh, am I interrupting? Do you need more time to finish up your work before we spend the weekend at my parent's house?"

  Cat finished putting the books away, shaking her head. "No, we're done. I just need to put the books back on the shelf and then we're ready to hit the road!"

  Zahara waited and once they were ready she led them to parking lot F, right beside the university library.

  "I figured I'd park in short term parking to save time today. It takes about an hour to get to the garden that my family tends, in rush hour anyway. Did you guys want to eat first or wait until we get there? I'm sure that my mum has something made, if you're interested in something a little spicier tonight."

  "Sounds good to me. I'm not hungry yet, but I'd love to try your mom's cooking when we get there."

  Evelyn spoke with excitement and Cat laughed as she opened the passenger side door and got into the car.

  "You just like eating any type of mom food," said Cat. "She's just as bad at my house. I hope your mom's making a lot. She may be little, but Evelyn can really pack a meal away if someone else is cooking for her."

  Zahara snorted in response, getting in the drivers seat.

  "She makes enough for twenty people. I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll let her know that you'll be eating at our house and the food will be ready when we get there."

  THE DRIVE TOOK ABOUT an hour as Zahara had warned, but this wasn't solely due to distance. Traffic out of the city was heavy on weekends, due to everyone trying to escape the city to other destinations. Zahara admitted she sometimes left the car at home, changing into her fox form for shorter distances. She preferred running free to being stuck in traffic whenever possible.

  "Living in a city is hard for an earth power. The earth feels trapped, under cement and buildings. While it's still all around me, so much is encased in concrete and asphalt that I can't access it very easily. Luckily, the trees and the grass around the city help take the ache away a little bit."

  Cat nodded. She hadn't thought of it before, because her power didn't seem to be limited to being near an element. Vanessa was an air power and also never complained about lacking the sense of her element, but Cat could remember how happy her sister had been when she'd moved to the coast. Mai was also much happier near water. She'd once traveled with Vanessa to visit Cat and Evelyn in their hometown, but had been tired the majority of the time she'd been there. Now Cat wondered if it had been related to the relative deficiency of her element in the landlocked town, so far from the ocean.

  "So why do you live in Edinburgh then?" Cat asked, looking at Zahara. "Wouldn't it be easier to live near your parents?"

  Evelyn leaned forward from the back seat, waiting for Zahara to answer.

  "Yes, it would be easier for me in some ways, but there are no jobs there. As much as I'd love to garden all day, or work with my parents, I felt the need to do something on my own. Strike out
and make my own way, as it were. I also love travel, so this job suits my needs right now."

  Zahara had been hired specifically to escort the girls during their time in Scotland, but she worked for a travel company in Edinburgh the rest of the time. Her company had been well compensated by someone, possibly Robin, for her absence during the six weeks that Cat and Evelyn would be in the country.

  "Have you talked to anyone about Robin?" Cat asked, triggered by the idea of Robin arranging everything for Zahara.

  "Yes, I asked my parents. They promised we could use the garden to try to contact him. They also said they'd leave us to ourselves, but that remains to be seen."

  Cat and Evelyn nodded. As much as Zahara's parents obviously weren't strangers to the world of magic, Cat and Evelyn didn't like to involve their parents either whenever they could avoid it.

  As Zahara pulled off the main road, Cat noted that the pavement had turned into a hard packed gravel flanked on both sides by trees. They travelled for a few more minutes down a narrow driveway before emerging into a sun filled yard, which had a quaint yellow and brown cottage in the centre. It was straight out of every Thomas Kincade picture Cat had ever seen, complete with flowers in abundance and a small pond with ducks fluttering around it. The van stopped and Zahara got out. Evelyn and Cat followed tentatively behind her, waiting while a middle-aged woman dressed simply in pants and a cotton shirt came flying out of the cottage and gave Zahara a giant bear hug. She said a few words to Zahara in a language that Cat didn't recognize, before turning to smile broadly at Cat and Evelyn.

  "A pleasure to meet you! You must be hungry from all your work. Did you have a nice drive?"

  Mrs. Khan pulled them both into tight hugs and Cat patted the woman's back awkwardly. She wasn't much for hugs in general, but it was nice to have a mom hug, even when it wasn't her mom. The woman hardly waited for Cat and Evelyn to answer before she turned to walk back in to the cottage. The girls followed, enticed by the smell of something delicious bubbling on the stove as they walked into the kitchen.

  "Please, feel free to wash up and then sit down. I just made a few small things today."

  Cat and Evelyn exchanged disbelieving glances before they looked at Zahara, who was actively rolling her eyes so much they appeared to be in danger of falling out of her head.

  "You don't need to eat everything. And take some yoghurt, sometimes things can be a little spicy," Zahara muttered, under her breath.

  Mrs. Khan gave her daughter a suspicious look, before beaming at Cat and Evelyn again and placing a multitude of plates and bowls of food on the table through a small entryway into the dining room. Zahara had been right. There was enough food for way more than just the three of them. Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of plates, Cat was relieved to see other people trickling into the dining room. Zahara introduced her brothers and her father who smiled politely before digging in without waiting for Mrs. Khan.

  Supper was a delicious affair and Cat was amused to watch the interactions between Zahara and her family. She seemed to get along well with her brothers and held her own easily in the verbal sparring that Cat witnessed during supper.

  "So what kind of horrible things have you gotten up to lately?" Umar, Zahara's oldest brother said while he flicked the ends of her long hair.

  Zahara slapped his hand away lightly.

  "None of your business. Besides, I'm not the one that's been up to stuff lately, at least, not from what Mo said last week." Zahara gave her brother a warning look, then glanced sideways at her mom, who was busy bringing another plate to the table and hadn't heard the exchange.

  Cat had no idea what they were talking about, but the panicked look on Umar's face told her that whatever it was, he definitely didn't want his parents to know about it. He quickly shovelled the rest of his food into his mouth, cleaning his plate.

  "I'll see you later, Mom and Dad. I'm supposed to head to Ali's place for that project we're working on for Uni." Umar got up from the table, followed almost immediately by Zahara's other brothers.

  "Make sure that you study hard. I expect you home before midnight," Zahara's dad answered mildly.

  Cat liked him. He was cute, with a gnome-like appeal, even though he appeared to be completely human. During supper, Zahara's parents both asked polite questions about where the girls were from, but didn't get into specifics about their powers or ask the girls anything about theirs. It seemed like a bit of a don't ask, don't tell situation, Cat thought, although she didn't mind in the least.

  Soon enough, the girls also pushed away from the table, with their stomachs close to bursting. With the blessing of the elder Khans, they exited through the French doors at the back of the cottage into the yard. Zahara had explained that while the front of the house was pretty and normal, the back was shielded from the gaze of the average human and acted as a conduit to the realm of the Sidhe. They walked through a gazebo situated just off a paved patio area and Cat suddenly understood what she meant. At first glance, she saw nothing but a green field. But once she passed through the gazebo, everything shimmered, as if she was once again back in the tunnel to the fairy glade, and they passed through the other side into the same place she'd been where she'd last seen Robin.

  "What is this?Is it...?" Cat attempted to ask, but couldn't find the right words to express her amazement.

  Zahara nodded, smiling with satisfaction. "It's the same place you've been to before. Summerland isn't just in one place. It's a realm with entrances all over the human world that all lead here. It's out of sync, yet always the same. That's why you can get to it from here and have it look completely unchanged, no matter which point you enter from."

  The girls walked around the glade, amazed that it was exactly how it had always looked on the previous occasions that they'd been there, half a world away. The same flowers, the same dandelion fluff floating in the breeze. And then dropping out the big oak tree beside Cat, the same nut-brown boy with curly hair. Yet Cat was shocked this time because of the changes to his face. Gone was the happy trickster she'd become fond of. Robin's features were similar but serious now, causing him to look much older and larger than the boy of eight that she'd always seen him as. In front of her was a more adult looking creature, with eyes as old the sea.

  "It is always a pleasure to see you, my ladies. I am sorry that we have to continually meet this way and never have time to play."

  Cat and Evelyn bowed low in respect, as did Zahara.

  "Lord Robin, the pleasure is ours, as you know," Zahara began. "I am happy that you have chosen our lowly garden as your place to make an appearance on this fine Summerland day."

  Robin came closer to the girls, gently touching each of them on the shoulder.

  "Please stand, you do not need to keep ceremony with me. I am glad to see you, but troubled by the things I know and by what my friends have been whispering to me."

  The girls stood up. Cat was surprised by what she was hearing and seeing. In all the time she'd known him, she hadn't seen Robin look worried about anything, even when he'd been telling them about Dub. Serious, yes, but not worried. She thought that this was more frightening than anything he could have said, until he started talking.

  "Once upon a time, before the time of men, the people of the Sidhe roamed freely. During this time, a powerful witch rose to be a goddess. Her name was Carman and it was a name feared by all the lesser magics. She had three sons, Dub, Dother, and Dain, Together, they were the darkness, evil, and violence. They ruled the land with fear, until one day, the Tuatha de Danaan arrived from across the sea and drove them out."

  Cat started. Suddenly, she recalled the image in her dream, of a tree howling it's rage and pain after the death of Dub.

  "Robin, what happened to them after they were driven out?"

  He smiled sadly and touched her cheek.

  "It was thought that they were driven out across the ocean. Dain and Dother were gone, but it was hard to say for sure. And you already know what happened to Dub.
Carman was tricky though, and using her magic to cloak herself, she somehow escaped. No one knows for sure where she went, but she was last seen on the cliffs of east Lothian, near Ayrshire. Mayhap she crossed the sea, maybe not. Things went quiet then for many years, until one day men came and settled. Life went along, as it always does. Reports of disturbing events began to circulate. Stories of people missing and worse, eaten by their own kind, began to plague the countryside. Then the men came and hunted down the evildoers responsible and things became quiet again. Until now."

  Cat looked Robin in the eye as he spoke, still holding her cheek. She found herself sinking into their ancient depths, as though she were falling into a dark pool in the middle of the night. As she drowned in the depths, she began to see images related to the story that Robin was telling them. Cat saw a powerfully built woman with dark red hair that whipped around her head like snakes, power crackling from her body in dark waves while she shifted, changed, then vanished. A nearby tree shuddered and twisted as a result of the violent transformation.

  Cat saw time passing, the speed increasing as if she were watching time-lapse photography, with the sun, moon, and seasons racing by in quick succession. The tree remained central to the image, becoming more gnarled and blacker with time, but growing larger instead of dying, as it appeared to be trying to do. She saw men fighting and bleeding and then the tree was alone again, bloody but unbroken. The image vanished and Cat blinked, finding herself watching Robin as he removed his hand from her face.

  "And so now you know. Things are not always as they seem. You have rid the world of one great evil, but there is more yet to rise."

  Cat almost staggered back from the change in pressure and the knowledge that Robin had shared. Zahara and Evelyn looked on in confusion, not having witnessed the vision of history that Cat had.

  "What should we do?" Evelyn asked Robin, hesitantly.