“If she can be here by tonight, we can get going tomorrow morning,” Sebastian supplied.
“Yes…I, suppose,” Lily said. The words caused a lump to form in her throat. As desperate as the situation was, she was in no hurry to leave. Here, it was safe. Here, she wasn’t expected to fix everything. Yet…she’d always dreamed of going to England. Perhaps it wouldn’t be that bad. After all, who said you couldn’t enjoy a few rounds of tea and biscuits in the process of saving the world?
The conversation with her mother was brief as Lily gave her the condensed version of recent events. Her mother’s support was unhesitating. Of course she would come. Anything for dear Ethel. Sally—Lily’s oldest stepsister—was perfectly capable of looking after the household while she was gone.
Lily gave her mother Allen’s address and Freda promised she would leave within the hour.
Once she hung up, Lily let out a sigh of relief, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders. She knew her beloved mentor would be well taken care of while they were gone to England.
With that task out of the way, there were still many things to arrange. She had already called her boss, the library director, and explained how Madam Barrington had fallen ill and that she needed a few personal days to help look after her. That would get her through the weekend. But how was she going to explain needing a multi-week vacation, especially considering she’d already used most of her vacation time? With September already halfway through, the fall term was in full swing and the library needed all of its staff. Could she couch it as a research trip? Perhaps ask for a leave of absence for professional development?
Then there was the tiny problem of what to do once they got to England. She’d been avoiding thinking about it, hoping vaguely the whole mess would go away. But, of course, it wouldn’t. And the longer she delayed, the more time John Faust had to find Morgan.
Her first task was to get the names of Madam Barrington’s acquaintances at Oxford University. A week ago—had it only been a week? It felt like months—they’d come to Allen’s house to find and study Morgan le Fay’s journal, and Madam Barrington had wanted to run John Faust’s questionable translation of it past some experts at Oxford. Lily was nervous at the thought of introducing herself to a whole slew of strange wizards, and British ones no less. What would they think of her? But there was nothing for it. She couldn’t let her mentor down.
Though she hated to bother her, Lily ducked into Madam Barrington’s room and gently shook her awake. Except for a brief break to relieve himself, Sir Kipling hadn’t left the old wizard’s chest since they’d arrived at Allen’s house. So he took this opportunity to slip out and stretch his legs while Lily was there to keep his charge company.
“Hold her hand while I’m gone,” the feline instructed her. “Your body heat helps.”
Lily gladly did as asked, cradling her mentor’s ice-cold hand in her own as they exchanged quiet words.
“Sorry to wake you, Ms. B., I just wanted to let you know Freda is coming. She’ll take care of you while we’re gone. I thought she’d make a better nursemaid than Allen.” Lily forced a smile for Madam Barrington’s sake, hoping to lift her spirits.
“A relief…I’m sure,” Madam Barrington breathed, smiling back feebly.
Lily patted her mentor’s hand and continued. “I have a few questions about, well, our mission. Since you won’t be…” she paused, swallowing. There was a heavy ache in her chest, as if a hand were squeezing her heart to bits, but she forged onward. “Since you’ll be busy getting better, I need to know…well everything,” she finished in a rush, trying not to sound desperate. “What am I supposed to do, Ms. B.? How am I going to get along in England without you? Where do I start? How do I find Morgan?”
“Slow…slow down, dear.” Madam Barrington coughed. “You’ll be…just fine. Use what…I have taught you. You are…the best student…I ever had…you know.”
Lily gave a nervous laugh. “Don’t be silly. You don’t have to lie to make me feel better.”
“Not a lie…good work ethic…intense focus…quick learner. You are an…accomplished wizard…Lily. Especially for…having started…so late.”
Now she had to choke back tears, scrubbing furiously at her eyes with one hand as she responded, refusing to break down. “Nonsense. I’m sure Allen could have run circles around me by the time he was seven years into his studies. But let’s not argue, you need to save your strength. You said you had contacts at Oxford. I suppose it would be best to go there first? My problem is that I’m not sure how to get several weeks off from the library. I’ve already used most of my vacation. What will I tell the director?”
“Helen Pemberton…colleague…wizard…used to be…Bodleian librarian…now…library administration.” Madam Barrington’s sentences were becoming more fractured as she struggled to speak, pausing between phrases to catch her breath. The older woman attempted to raise her head as if looking for something to write on, but Lily pushed her back.
“I’ll look her up,” she promised, scribbling down the name on a piece of paper.
Madam Barrington gave a long sigh. “Explain…ask for temporary…position or…internship…perhaps. Good friend…she will…aid you.”
“Alright. Is there anyone else at Oxford I should contact? Any other wizards?” She felt a bit better now that she was taking notes and making plans.
“Dr. Cyril…Hawtrey…took over…Dr. Grootenboer retired…”
Lily’s ears pricked at the latter name. It sounded familiar. Then she remembered. Her father had mentioned Dr. Grootenboer back when he told her about his own studies at Oxford. For a moment her blood ran cold, imagining she would have to meet with old friends of her father’s. But then she forced herself to think rationally. Madam Barrington would never send her to seek aid from someone she knew would favor John Faust.
“Those two…will know others…guide you…” her mentor continued, voice becoming weaker as she coughed. Lily put down her pencil to help Madam Barrington sip some water.
Once she’d drunk her fill, Lily helped her lean back. “I’m afraid I’ve tired you out, dear Ethel,” she said, using her mentor’s first name in a moment of tenderness. “Get some rest. Mother will be here soon and she makes the best chicken soup you’ve ever had. You’ll be back on your feet in no time.”
As she tried to rise, however, Madam Barrington clutched her hand, eyes opening very wide as she stared up at her. “One last…” she coughed, then took a deep breath, gathering her strength. “One last thing…Lily. You must contact…my sister’s husband…George Dee. He is a very powerful…and influential wizard. After I married Arthur…I was struck from…the family records and…left England. But I kept contact…with my sister, Day. George will…hear you out. No friend of…LeFay’s. Explain…the situation. We may need…his support…in the coming days. If I…if I do not…recover…go to him…for protection. Take Sebastian…his great-grandfather…after all…will do it for…my sister’s sake…loved her dearly.” Her strength finally running out, she sank back onto her pillow, eyes closed and breathing labored.
Lily fought to keep her voice from shaking as she plumped the pillow and tucked her mentor snugly in. “Don’t talk such nonsense. Of course you’ll recover. I’ll tell Mr. Dee you’ll come thank him in person as soon as you’re feeling up to it.” Lily chattered on, filling the air with noise as if that would hold back the fear trying to latch its claws into her.
By the time she’d finished and straightened, Madam Barrington had fallen back asleep. Sir Kipling appeared, jumping up on the bedcovers and examining them both before curling back up on the old woman’s chest.
“I hope you got the information you needed, because she won’t wake again for a while. She’s barely holding on as it is, and needs to save her strength.” He sounded disapproving, as if Lily had been bothering his charge with trivialities.
“Oh shush, pussycat,” Lily said, using Madam Barrington’s name for him. “We all want her to get better. It’s no
t like I asked her to dance a jig.”
“That’s good,” Sir Kipling purred, eyes already half-lidded in either scornful disdain or feline contentment—they were often one and the same. “Jigs are a horrid excuse for something as ancient and noble as dancing. You’d never catch a cat flailing about in such an undignified manner.”
An image of Sir Kipling doing the Irish jig popped unbidden into Lily’s head. She snorted, failing spectacularly to suppress her mirth as her face split into a wide, genuine smile for the first time in days.
Sir Kipling sniffed, nose in the air.
Deciding to let things stand as they were, Lily left her cat to look after his patient while she went in search of a landline from which to make an international call, still chuckling as she made her way down the hall.
Though it was embarrassing to admit, Lily had never been to an airport before, much less flown on a plane. She’d never needed to. While she’d dreamed of traveling the world, it was done from the comfort and safety of her living room sofa with a nice cup of tea close at hand. As tempting as all those exciting new experiences were, they had the misfortune of being exciting, new, and experiences. All the things Lily tried to avoid. She didn’t have anything against excitement or new things, just as long as they kept their distance. She was a creature of habit, and excitement was generally disruptive to her routine. There was a fiery adventurer buried down deep inside of her somewhere, she was sure, but as of yet she hadn’t found it.
Thus it was with great trepidation and not a little bit of stress that she followed Sebastian through the doors of the largest and busiest airport in the world—Atlanta International. Behind her she pulled a gigantic suitcase packed with every item she might possibly need—and quite a few she wouldn’t but wanted with her just in case. In the other hand she hefted a cat carrier containing one extremely unhappy feline.
Sir Kipling had complained long and loudly at the idea of being separated from his mistress and trapped in a small crate for over nine hours. After all, he’d been able to slip in and out of no-pets-allowed areas before. Why couldn’t he simply sneak onto the plane? Lily didn’t even bother arguing. She was taking no chances, not when it involved hurtling through the air in a metal tube thousands of feet above a vast ocean.
Now, as she struggled to get her oversized suitcase up to the check-in desk, she tried not to think about how many things could possibly go wrong with said metal tube hurtling through the air thousands of feet above a vast ocean. The fact that—statistically—it was much deadlier to drive a car than to fly on a plane didn’t comfort her in the least.
They’d had to get up before the crack of dawn to drive back to Atlanta and pack the necessary items from both their houses before heading over to the airport. Plus, they’d had to allow for an extra hour to fill out all the paperwork associated with shipping a pet internationally. To Lily’s great relief, there were no special hoops to jump through as long as her pet was microchipped, which of course he was. She had rigorously followed all the various vaccination and checkup schedules recommended by her vet in the hope that it would balance out her cat’s tendency to do what, and go where, he pleased.
Unsurprisingly, Lily looked around at her fellow travelers with bleary eyes and a frown of general discontent, brain frazzled from too little sleep and too much worry. The fact that Sebastian was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement, did not improve her mood.
“You are disgusting,” she grumbled, giving her friend’s cheery look a sideways glare.
“Come, now, Lily. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“At home. In bed. Asleep.”
Sebastian chuckled, drawing odd looks from those around them who, like Lily, knew it was impolite to be happy this early in the morning.
“Why are you so chipper, anyway?” she asked. “You hate getting up early and usually do your best impression of a zombie until at least eleven o’clock.”
Sebastian shrugged, giving her a silly grin. “Just excited, I suppose. I mean, come on, we’re having an adventure. Anything could happen! Daring escapes from dastardly villains, life-and-death struggles with monstrous creatures, intrepid explorations of wild landscapes never before seen by the eyes of men—”
“You do realize we’re going to England, right?” Lily asked dryly, smiling in spite of herself. “England, where the biggest native animal is a deer, and the average mountain is so short they’re technically considered hills? This isn’t Africa we’re talking about, Dr. Jones.”
“Shush, you’re ruining it.” He flapped a hand at her, eyes closed as if to keep his adventure fantasy fixed in his mind. “Just because you’re a stick-in-the-mud doesn’t mean we all have to be.”
Lily was interrupted from replying by the line moving ahead, and she took a moment to wrestle her suitcase a few more feet forward.
“Just remember your manners, alright? Please,” she implored him. “The British are a very reserved and proper people. They won’t look kindly on your usual mucking about.”
Sebastian grinned a very wide, very impudent grin. “I know. I’m counting on it.”
Lily groaned but was unable to admonish him further because her turn had come up at the ticket counter. With no computer at Allen’s house and everything being so rushed, Lily hadn’t managed to call ahead to reserve tickets. She simply hoped there was a flight available that morning.
“How can I help you, miss?” the attendant asked.
“We need two tickets for the first flight to London. Is there anything available this morning?”
There was a moment of silence as the attendant checked. “Yes,” he said slowly, “but the only seats left are first class. Will that be alright?”
Lily’s heart sank. Her bank account could cover an economy ticket, but there was no way she could swing first class. “Um…could you check when the next available flight is that has open economy seating, please?”
“Of course, ma’am.” The attendant typed into his terminal and seemed to take a depressingly long time to find what he was looking for. “It looks like things are quite busy today, ma’am. The next flight with economy available is tomorrow around noon. Will that work?”
Her heart sank even further as she desperately searched for a solution. Could they afford to wait another day?
“We’ll take the first-class seats, thanks.” Sebastian had shouldered his way between the line to stand beside her and now held out a card to the attendant. It had that dirty, sticky look of having been in a wallet for a very long time, yet the edges weren’t worn, as if it had never been used.
“Of course, sir. May I please have your passports?”
Sebastian dug his out—thankfully they’d both already had passports, Lily having gotten hers in a fit of optimism when she started college.
“Ma’am? Your passport?” the attendant repeated.
Lily shook herself, realizing she’d been staring, openmouthed, at Sebastian while the attendant looked at her expectantly. Closing her mouth with a snap, she hurriedly handed over the requested document while glaring at her friend.
“You have some explaining to do,” she muttered out of the side of her mouth, resisting the urge to demand then and there where he’d gotten so much money.
“Later,” he shot back, his chipper look now tinged with discomfort as he smiled politely at the attendant.
The check-in procedure went as smoothly as could be expected with all the paperwork they had to navigate regarding Sir Kipling. Once their tickets were issued they had to go to a special desk to get it taken care of. Before she handed over her cat’s carrier, she crouched down to stick her fingers through the door and mutter some parting words.
“Just be good, alright? And for heaven’s sake don’t leave your crate.”
He gave her a baleful stare.
“Yes, I know you can get out if you want, but that’s not the point. You know how much trouble we could get in if you’re caught. Just…please. For me. Okay?” S
he wiggled her fingers invitingly. After a moment of disgruntled glaring, he gave in and pressed up against the door of the carrier, accepting her affectionate rub behind the ears with reserved dignity.
“Fine. But I’d better get some of this famous clotted cream you keep going on about.”
Lily grinned. “I promise, you will. Now, be good and stay safe. I’ll see you in nine hours.”
With a pang, she watched as they carried her companion away. Despite her best effort, the long list of things she was trying, and failing, not to worry about had just gotten longer.
They got through security without a hitch, though there was a bit of a fuss over a large, silver coin Sebastian forgot to take out of his pocket. Lily recognized it as the one he liked to play with, rolling it over his fingers. He’d been taking it out less and less these days. In fact, she hadn’t seen him messing with it since she’d noticed, and pointed out, that it was covered with dimmu runes. It was probably some heirloom from his family and she was beginning to suspect it did something magical, but had no idea what since he wouldn’t let her examine it.
So many secrets. He was full of them, and every day that passed she discovered more. Speaking of secrets…
“Now would you mind explaining what that was back there?” Lily asked with barely suppressed impatience as they chose seats in the waiting area for their gate. “I kept my mouth shut when we paid Anton that ridiculous sum to get in touch with Tina, but this is too much. I won’t be part of anything illegal.” She tried to keep the huff out of her voice, aware that her usual reaction to his rule-bending—outraged indignation—was not as mature as it had once seemed.
“What makes you think I’m doing anything illegal?” he responded coolly. Lily couldn’t tell if he was upset or simply trying to deflect her question.
“Weelll, you live in a junk-heap apartment in a sleazy part of town and drive a car that belongs in the scrap yard. I honestly don’t know how you get by. For you to suddenly have thousands of dollars in spare change seems…well…suspicious.” She looked away, embarrassed and hoping he wasn’t insulted by her words. It was a valid question.
Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus Legends Page 2