by S J Howland
A moment later, Xander was grateful that they had changed the subject, as Len herself emerged from around the flowering shrubs. Up to this point, she had rather held herself aloof from Xander but this time she favoured him with a quick grin.
‘You got kicked out, I assume,’ she said, reaching over to take a handful of the nixie food.
‘Thought they gave you hives?’ Ollie said acidly.
Len threw him an amused look.
‘Please,’ she said. ‘I just didn’t want to get stuck looking after the little fiends when Katie inevitably gets bored with them.’
She threw the worms one by one into the pool. The nixies snatched at the food but Xander noticed in surprise that they were suddenly more restrained. They also watched Len warily, making no attempt to snap at her even when she leaned right over the pond.
Len had also noticed their unusual behaviour. ‘Weird,’ she said. ‘Maybe Katie’s actually hit on a way to train nixies–this lot seem far less homicidal than usual.’ Losing interest, she rubbed her hands clean on her trousers. ‘Food’s gone. You can clear off now,’ she told the nixies. Without a sound, every one of them promptly dived under the water and disappeared. Len’s eyebrows shot up, and she looked around at Xander and Ollie.
‘Well, that’s unexpected,’ she said and then shook her head, dismissing the nixies’ odd behaviour. ‘Anyway, the coast is clear and Gran says you can come back and help with lunch.’
With a last wary glance back at the now quiet pond, Xander hurried after Len as she marched back up the garden.
Lunch was a quiet affair, the kitchen being deserted again when they returned. Despite Ollie’s attempts to ask leading questions about what had prompted the meeting earlier, Mrs Stanton resisted all of his attempts to probe and refused to give anything away, finally losing her patience and packing him off upstairs to tidy his room. Len pulled a mocking face at him and was unfortunate enough to get caught by her grandmother.
‘You needn’t act so superior,’ Mrs Stanton said tartly. ‘It may not be in the same league but your room is hardly pristine either. Up you go and sort it out, and then you may be in a position to judge your cousin.’
Len rolled her eyes at that.
‘Where are the brownies, anyway?’ she grumbled. ‘Honestly, what’s the point of being plagued by weird little oddities with body image issues and a cleaning fetish if they don’t even tidy our rooms?’
‘Not another word,’ said Mrs Stanton ominously, with a wary glance around the kitchen. She glared at Len. ‘They don’t do your rooms because you have two arms and two legs and are more than capable – and I don’t want to hear you speaking about them like that ever again.’
Mrs Stanton rose from the table and eyed Len with that look of awful majesty she could, on occasion, draw around herself. Len was certainly not equal to it and slid out of the kitchen without another word of complaint. Xander also stood, feeling rather awkward and wondering whether he should go upstairs to help Ollie, but Mrs Stanton turned to him with her charming smile and laid a gentle hand on his arm.
‘Sorry, Xander,’ she said. ‘Please don’t leave – actually I rather wanted to have a word with you.’
Xander eyed her worriedly, and she laughed and shook her head at him.
‘No need to look so terrified.’
She slipped an arm through his and led him down the hall and into one of the sitting rooms. The big windows were open wide, and it was light and airy in there, with colourful flowers peeping over the sill and pouring their fresh scents into the room, along with the soft hum from the bees at work in the garden. A large clock ticked away in the corner and there were clear signs of Jenna’s handiwork in the pots of richly green plants and bowls of flowering bulbs sitting among the many photographs scattered through the room, in delicate silver frames. It was a restful place and Xander sank down amongst the plentiful cushions on the big sofa, Mrs Stanton settling beside him with a grateful sigh.
‘It’s good to sit down for a moment, it’s been quite a hectic morning,’ she said, and then turned so she could see Xander better. ‘I just wanted a quick chat because I saw you noticed that ridiculous scene between Len and her father earlier.’
Xander was not sure what he was supposed to say to this, so he nodded wordlessly. Mrs Stanton did not seem to expect any comment and continued on.
‘Len seems to have taken to you and I’m grateful for that, as she doesn’t make friends very easily. I realise that she can be a bit spiky and stand-offish but whether or not she wants to admit it, she needs more people in her life than just her cousin. I wanted to explain about her before she manages to chase you away as well.’
As she spoke, Mrs Stanton reached over to a side table and opened the drawer, lifting out a framed photograph and laying it face down on her knee, before continuing.
‘Jasper is my younger son, and he’s always been the quieter of the two. To be honest, it worried us when we realised that he’d inherited his father’s Traveller abilities while James didn’t, but James never let that drive a wedge between them. He was always keen on following in my footsteps and passionate about working with animals; he never once resented Jasper’s abilities. Jasper was away from home more and more as he grew older, spending time at the Lodges and training. Then, when he was twenty, he went away for around three months and when he returned, he brought a girl back with him.’
She smiled in recollection, her fingers idly stroking the photograph frame.
‘We’d never seen him so lit up, so happy, like he’d transformed from the inside out. Her name was Vivian.’
Mrs Stanton paused and then turned over the photograph and offered it to Xander. Xander recognised Len’s father, his handsome face alight with laughter as he looked down at the woman beside him. She had the same pale blonde hair as Len, although hers rippled down her back in waves and curls, and her skin had that same golden tinge, but there the similarities ended; her expression was bright and filled with happiness, making her look very different to her daughter’s habitual coolness. Mrs Stanton smiled sadly.
‘They were both young, but we all knew that they were right for each other; they got married shortly afterwards. Everyone loved Vivian. She was one of those people who lit up every room she entered. She was sweet and thoughtful, and she brought such joy to our family and to Jasper; he would have done anything for her.’ She glanced around the room as if she could see Len’s mother right there, before she continued on. ‘James had married Jenna the year before, and both Vivian and Jenna became pregnant together. Woodside was filled with happiness and excitement; we felt blessed beyond measure, until the sickness came.’
She looked down and sighed.
‘Flint said that the hobs told you about that this morning, Xander, but they weren’t the only victims. Humans were less susceptible, it’s true, but it was no less lethal to us. James fell ill first and then, while Jenna and I were frantically trying to nurse him, Vivian was struck down too. It was a bad case from the beginning. She held on for a while, a few weeks, until she had given birth to Len but then we lost her.’
Mrs Stanton pressed her lips together, looking at the photograph, as if there was something else she wanted to say but she just shook her head again, her expression bereft.
‘We lost our Vivian, and it broke Jasper. James was recovering and luckily Jenna never caught it, but all the stress and strain brought the baby early. Oliver was incredibly tiny and fragile, and we weren’t even sure at the time that he would survive. Jasper had already left; he couldn’t bear to be here, in the place where his life had fallen apart. And then, just as I thought we had hit our lowest ebb, the border failed and shades struck, catching a group of Travellers completely unaware.’
Xander looked up at her sharply, and Mrs Stanton nodded.
‘Yes, I know that Ari took you to see poor Alvin Tavish, and that she told you that there were two others with him who didn’t survive.’ She hesitated and smoothed out her skirt with hands that shook a little.
‘One of those two was my husband, Max.’
Xander did not know quite what to say; he cleared his throat awkwardly.
‘I’m really sorry,’ he said quietly.
Mrs Stanton patted him on the knee. ‘That’s very kind,’ she said, and then sighed again. ‘It was a long time ago now, but I still remember how desperate things were. Max and Vivian were gone, Jenna was exhausted with a terribly frail baby, James could barely get out of bed after that awful sickness and Len was a motherless newborn, with Jasper who knew where. Everything was falling apart and sometimes I didn’t know how I could go on, I felt so shattered.’
She looked up at Xander, her expression bleak and then, unexpectedly, a little smile tugged at her lips. ‘That’s when something amazing happened. One morning, I came downstairs to the kitchen and found it immaculate. The floor was shining, every pot, dish and pan was gleaming, all the laundry was done and a fresh loaf of bread was waiting for us on the side. I could scarcely believe my eyes, but Brolly and Spike kept coming every day, washing, cleaning and keeping us going until we had the strength to begin again. Those ‘little oddities’ that Len is so dismissive of brought us through the worst time in our lives, and I will never stop being grateful to them. It’s funny though,’ she added pensively. ‘We didn’t see them for many years, once we were back on our feet, but then they turned up again, a few months ago, as if they were checking in to make sure we’re okay.’ She fell silent, her expression thoughtful.
Xander tried to take all of this in, turning it over in his mind. ‘So what happened with Len’s father?’ he asked hesitantly. ‘Is it weird between them because he left her?’
Mrs Stanton took a deep breath.
‘Not entirely,’ she said. ‘Jasper came back when the news reached him about his father. That didn’t help, of course, because he was racked with guilt about not being there. Ben Flint is just as bad – Max was his mentor and trainer when he was a young Traveller.’ She huffed. ‘As if there was anything either of them could have done if they had been there. Anyway, Jasper came back but there was no heart left in him. He did try with Len, but the older she got the more she reminded him of her mother. Her expressions, her mannerisms, sometimes it’s like seeing Vivian all over again. Maybe for some people, it would have been a comfort to see reminders of the person they loved, but not Jasper. I would see him flinch when he looked at her, just like today, and Len was quite sharp enough to pick up on it as she grew older. Jasper began to stay away more, and the distance between them has kept on growing.’ She turned an exasperated look on Xander. ‘If I thought it would do any good, I would bang both their stubborn heads together,’ she said tartly.
‘Have you talked to Len about it?’ asked Xander.
Mrs Stanton laughed.
‘Ha! Have you tried talking to Len about something she doesn’t want to discuss? Brick walls are more receptive! Len doesn’t want to hear any of it and she refuses to discuss her mother.’ She looked down again at the picture on her knee and then laid it face down in the drawer and shut it away with a soft sigh. ‘I have to keep this photo hidden. Len doesn’t want to see it and it hurts Jasper to remember those times. It’s been nice to talk to you about her though. I loved Vivian very much, and I miss her every day.’ She patted Xander on the knee. ‘You’ve been very kind to listen to me ramble on, but I wanted you to understand about why Len is so prickly sometimes. You seem a nice young man and it would do Len so much good to have a friend she could count on, other than just Ollie. Don’t let her push you away.’
She was looking at Xander so hopefully that he felt like he must give her some kind of reassurance and he nodded, with an awkward smile. She beamed back at him and then stood up briskly.
‘Wonderful,’ she said. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, you had better pop upstairs and give Ollie a hand. That boy is absolutely incapable of tidying anything and I dread to think what he’s doing up there.’ With another quick smile, she led Xander out of the room and headed back to the kitchen, leaving Xander to walk slowly up the stairs, his thoughts busy with everything he had heard.
*
Sprawled out on the beds in the boys’ room that night, with Len joining them for the first time, they talked over what had happened in the Core that afternoon and how it might fit in with the other information they had. It turned into a minor argument between the cousins, Len proving to be rather sceptical about the hobs as a source for any further information. She suggested sardonically that the brownies were likely to be more forthcoming, while Ollie remained adamant that they clearly knew things they were not telling Xander, and his best hope was returning to the little shop near Fountain Square to ask Hob for his help.
‘Fine,’ conceded Len, eventually. ‘But if you come away with yet more mysterious warnings and absolutely no concrete information, don’t blame me.’
Xander made no reply to this as he thought Len was most likely correct, but as he went to bed that night, it was with the memory of the hobgoblin’s creaking voice telling him they would be waiting. His sleep was not very restful.
The next morning, Ollie was hopeful that classes would be cancelled after the Nexus power outage but he was swiftly disabused of this by his parents, who both laughed at his disappointed expression.
‘You’ll be lucky,’ said James, shaking his head. ‘Why do you think they have secondary nodes and backups? The likelihood of the Academy being disrupted by power outages is about the same as a nixie being appointed Chief Engineer at the Nexus.’
Ollie pulled a disappointed face at Xander as he and Len headed out for the day. Mrs Stanton, with an eye to Xander’s slightly lost expression, immediately claimed his help and kept him busy most of the morning with baking bread, roasting a ham and chopping up fruit for jellies. Xander had done very little cooking before, having viewed the kitchen as a health hazard and a place to be avoided, and he found himself rather enjoying the process and even planning to have a try himself, when he got home again.
After lunch, he fetched the reference book down and sat in the dappled shade in the orchard, munching apples and reading about the Mining Guild and their ongoing payment disputes with bluecaps. According to the book, the tiny figures which frequented the deep mines like blue flames were particularly sensitive to impending cave-ins, and they charged the Guild handsomely for their services in providing warnings. Several times in Guild history however, members had become suspicious that the somewhat taciturn bluecaps were actually setting up the collapses themselves to extort further payment; prolonged standoffs had then occurred, only for the relationship to be re-kindled again amidst mutual distrust and general hostility. Xander shook his head in disbelief and smiled wryly as he flicked through the pages and imagined exam questions on this subject.
When his watch told him it was near enough to the time that classes finished for him to leave without suspicion, he took the book back inside and asked Mrs Stanton if he could meet Ollie and Len. She was distracted at the time in repairing a large bowl which Katie had progressed sufficiently with her orb to explode in a spectacular fashion that morning, and Xander got an absent nod and a query about whether he was sure he knew where he was going.
With a quick affirmation and a wave, Xander headed out of Woodside and down towards the gate in Wykeham. It was rather an odd feeling to realise that this was the first time he had gone anywhere alone since he had arrived in Haven, and he strode through the carved stone arch with a sudden grin on his face, entirely certain that Flint would have been extremely disapproving if he knew.
Despite the fact that he had only done it a couple of times, the route already seemed familiar to Xander and he was even starting to become inured to the strange sights and inhabitants. A small clutch of fauns wearing what appeared to be large sandwich boards, dragging placards behind them, got barely a glance from him now as they emerged from another of the gates, and he made a point to smile warmly at a rather startled-looking giant who crossed the street in front of him.
Walking at a b
risk pace that Mrs Stanton would have been proud of, Xander rapidly drew level with the bright lights of the Thorne Store and all of its shimmering orbs, and then turned his back on the glittering windows and looked down the little side street, where the old wooden sign creaked in the light breeze. He was not feeling very positive about yet another encounter with hobgoblins, but he knew that Ollie was right; he needed to get some answers.
With a deep breath, and before he could change his mind, Xander pushed open the door; the bell chimed out, just as he remembered. The shop was unchanged from his previous visit, still dimly lit and dusty, but this time Hob was sitting at his cluttered desk, sorting through a jumbled pile of rocks. He looked up as Xander entered and stared at him, with no sign of welcome. There was an uncomfortable silence.
Xander cleared his throat. ‘Hello,’ he said awkwardly.
As if he had passed some unspoken test, Hob put down the rock he was holding and gestured towards the armchairs by the hearth. Not sure whether he was relieved that he had not been thrown out immediately, Xander walked over to the nearest chair. His eyes had been slow to adjust to the dim light, and he realised with a small start of surprise as he sat down, that one seat was already occupied. This hobgoblin was not as ancient-looking as the one they had met yesterday at the Core, who Reeve had referred to as the Elder Goblin, but he had grey hair, with long wrinkles creasing his pale, papery skin. He stared at Xander, his spidery fingers clutching a small cloth-wrapped bundle. The faint glimmer of the glowstones in the fireplace glittered in his eyes.
‘We have expected you.’ The voice was dusty, as if it was rarely used. ‘The conditions have been met.’
Xander had had a long list of questions on the tip of his tongue but after that disquieting announcement, there was a brand new one, right at the top of the list. ‘I don’t understand,’ he said, his voice rising a little. ‘What conditions? What does that even mean?’