by R. M. Walker
Lily
The Seer Series Book 1
by
RM Walker
Lily © 2017 RM Walker
Cover Art © RM Walker
Cover Photo © RM Walker
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
Edited by Jennifer Leigh Jones and Rebecca Stewart of Bookends Editing.
Contents
Another Move
Twins
Touch
Fae
Different
French
Aye!
Friendship
Moving Again
Holding Hands
Rain Check
Crowder Manor
Jonas
Sharing
Crocodiles
The Seer
Drew
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Another Move
Moving was easy when you knew how. And Lily knew how better than most.
She couldn’t remember a time when they weren’t moving. She’d learnt to not hoard things. She didn’t collect things she couldn’t pack up and take with her easily, like friends. She was friendly with people, she just didn’t make any close friendships that she would miss. It was easier that way.
They moved once a year, usually at the end of the academic year in July. There had been a couple of times when they’d moved midterm, but that was rare. Her mother tended to wait until she had finished an academic year before moving on again. The education syllabus stayed mostly the same despite where they were. The only changes were the four walls and the faces around her. She was a quick learner, achieving grade A’s or B’s; so, despite the disruption of moving each summer, her work didn’t suffer.
Her mother, Lynda, had an itchy foot of sorts. But it wasn’t wanderlust that moved her, it was the constant urge to paint what she saw around her. Her mother was an artist, and an excellent one. She specialised in sea and landscapes, and her work always sold well. The revenue from her paintings, and a small inheritance from her parents, gave them the ability to move to pastures greener on a regular basis.
And move on to pastures green they had just done again. Her mother was contacted by someone she’d sold a painting to previously. They asked her to do a series of paintings of their home and gardens through the four seasons. So, for the next year they would be living in a small, two bedroomed cottage in a Cornish village that looked as if time had forgotten it.
They’d lived in a lot of places over the years. Mostly in large towns. This was the first time she’d lived in a village, and especially one as small as Trenance. Woods edged the village on three sides, with the sea just beyond the south woods. The positive side, according to her mother, was a bus service that ran to the local town eight miles away. The negative side was that it only ran four times a day. There was a pub and a few shops; a small grocery store that also doubled as a post office, a butcher that did a sideline in fruit and veg, and a bakers. That was it.
Theirs was a typical small cottage, set in between two identical cottages. Lily’s room was at the back, and from her window she could see flower beds either side of a lawn that led down to the woods beyond. It was a definite improvement on their last home; her window there faced the brick wall of the house beside them.
She sat on the window seat, watching the trees. A light breeze coaxed the branches into a swaying dance. The leaves echoed the sounds of the sea that lay just beyond. But nudging the edge of her senses, there was a wisp of something different. Something beyond her understanding.
“Settling in, honey?”
She looked over her shoulder to see her mother leaning on the doorjamb, her arms crossed over her chest. Lily knew she would be watching her closely for a few days, and she understood that.
“It’s an improvement from the last place in Brighton,” Lynda murmured, moving across the room to place a hand on Lily’s shoulder.
“Yeah, it is,” Lily agreed. She’d seen so many different views from bedrooms she’d lived in, but she would admit that this was the prettiest view yet.
“I’ll take you to college on Wednesday, but according to the Headmaster, there’s a bus service that runs to pick up the kids. It leaves from the War Memorial every day at seven, and you catch it again from the college grounds coming home.”
“Thanks.” Lily nodded her head. She could catch the bus the first time, but it was almost a tradition now. Her mother would take her to school on the first day. Lily thought it was to try to make it up to her for how difficult it was to keep starting new schools every September. She’d never vocalised it though, and her mother never said anything either.
“Have you given any thought to universities yet, Lily?”
“Not yet.” Her mother’s hands tightened on her shoulders in reassurance.
She would be eighteen at the end of the month, and this was her last year in college. Once she finished college, her life would change dramatically. If she went to university, they would need to stay put for the three years it would take her to get a degree. Lily couldn’t remember the last time she’d stayed in one place for more than a year. Leaving somewhere was never as hard as it should have been though. It was the thought of staying in one place for three years that seemed odd to her now.She wasn’t even sure yet whether she even wanted to go into university. Nothing really appealed to her; nothing called to her. She was floating along, adrift, unsure in which direction her life was going to take her. She considered a few careers, but something always held her back. As if she was waiting for something. She just didn’t know what that something was.
“There’s no rush yet. You can have one of those gap years if you want.” The edge in her mother’s voice was clear. An edge that was put there by Lily’s epilepsy.
“I don’t know what I want to do yet,” she revealed quietly.
Lily’s epilepsy had grown increasingly worse as she got older. When she was young, the seizures weren’t too bad, but what started as absence seizures morphed into tonic-clonic seizures. Her mother took her to all sorts of doctors and alternative therapists, but nothing helped. Until one day her mother came home with some tablets that a herbalist gave her. Lily’s desperation reached a point where she was willing to try anything. To their relief, they’d worked. Several months could pass without any seizures. When she did get one, it was still so debilitating that she would sleep for twenty-four hours to get over the migraine it left her with. Currently, she was at her best so far; it was six months since her last seizure. She was not allowed to learn to drive a car until two years passed seizure free. She could ride a bicycle, and she did, but it was impractical for long distance journeys. Not being able to drive would put limitations on her future, and she was acutely aware of this.
Lily’s father died when her mother was pregnant with her. There were no pictures of him, and Lily knew very little about him. When she had been old enough to start asking questions, her mother’s answers had been vague before changing the subject. Lily stopped asking questions, aware that it was a touchy subject for her mother.
“Something will turn up, Lily. It always does.” Her mother squeezed her shoulder lovingly. “If you want to choose university, I’ll be right there with you, Lily. I can paint wherever you are.”
She placed her hand over her mother’s, leaning back into her. Her mother meant it, but their track record would suggest that a three year stay somewhere might not work.
“We could find somewhere close to whatever Uni you choose; or you can get those courses that you can do from home. That might even be easier, considering.”
“I’ll think about it,” Lily whispered, feeling her mother kiss the top of her head.
“We have the rest of this year to look forward to first. We aren’t going anywhere yet!” Her mother spoke briskly, dropped another kiss on her head and then moved away from her. “I need to ring Mr Crowder; see when I can pop by to start prelim sketches.” She went out, her footsteps echoed going down the cast iron spiral staircase that descended into the living room.
Lily looked back towards the forest, running a hand through her dark hair. Her future was so uncertain. Where would she be this time next year? She’d never really worried about it before. Her mother always chose where they were going. But Lily wasn’t a child anymore, and she knew there was a time coming where she would have to make her own way. It was more than that, if she was honest. It was as if everything she knew was about to change, that nothing would ever be the same after this year. And that scared her.
Twins
Wednesday morning found Lily standing in her tutor group classroom. Held in a tight grip, she had the map and timetable the office receptionist had given her. Nerves assailed her. Some things never got any easier, no matter how many times she did them.
She kept her eyes on the teacher, her cheeks burning hotly under the curious stares she knew she was getting from the classroom full of students. A short, stout man in blue cord trousers and a thick Aran sweater sat on the front edge of his desk. He looked to be in his early forties, with dark hair that was shot through with grey at the sides.
“I’m Lily Adair. I’m new here, sir.” He gave her a warm smile that reached his brown eyes.
“Go ahead and find a seat. We’re just starting.” He indicated the desks and chairs in front of her.
Not making eye contact with anyone, she made her way through the rows of students already sitting; aware that all eyes were still on her. It was a walk she had done numerous times before, but it was never easy. Her cheeks burned as she sank into the seat of the only empty desk in the room. She put her bag on the desk, making sure not to look at anyone.
"Right, now everyone is settled. I hope you’ve all had a good summer and you’re ready for your final year. It’s an important year, folks, so start as you mean to go on. Let's get the register over and done with, and then you can all sort yourselves out. Quietly."
Lily took the opportunity to look around for the first time now that everyone had lost interest in her. Like a lot of colleges Lily attended, this one had four houses; Columbus, Raleigh, Cook, and her own, Drake.
"Lily Adair, got you already.” She heard him say her name, and then he began calling out other names in the register. She watched as different ones responded to their names, but she knew it would be a while before she remembered who was whom. She had even left some schools at the end of the year still not knowing the names of all her classmates.
"Jacob Nethercott."
"Yo!" The lazy sounding voice caught her attention. She looked over and did a double take, two identical boys sat side by side.
"Joshua Nethercott."
"Here."
They were two seats over from hers, but it was easy to see they truly were identical. Straight, tousled, black hair fell into their eyes, touched the tips of their ears, and brushed the collar of their black jackets. They were like two gorgeous peas in a pod. They were sitting back in their chairs, bags on the desk. As one they looked towards her, as if they knew she was watching them. Her cheeks grew even hotter. Caught, she looked away quickly. She waited a beat and then chanced a sideways look back at them, but they were still looking over at her. In sync, they winked at her, identical smirks tilting their lips. Certain she was about to combust, she turned away abruptly, determined not to look back again.
“Okay, everyone, keep the noise down until the bell rings,” Mr Peters called out, and taking the register, he disappeared through a door that had Chapter House written on it in gold script.
"Hey, Lily." Two girls, one fair and one dark haired, turned in their seats to look back at her. “I’m Sarah. Where’ve you moved from?” The fair headed one spoke first.
“Brighton." Lily gripped her bag tightly in her sweaty palms.
"Cool, we went there for our holidays last year. It's a nice place. I'm Beth, by the way."
“Brighton was alright, I liked it there. We’ve moved into Trenance now; it's very pretty," she told them.
"My aunt lives there. It’s okay but too quiet for me," Sarah said, opening up her timetable. "What have you got first?"
Lily opened her own timetable. She’d completed one year of her A levels in Brighton, but come June, she would take her final exams.
"Maths and then English Lit," she said, looking up.
"I've got Art and Design, then Drama," Sarah said.
"I've Biology and Physics. What other subjects are you taking?" Beth asked.
"English Language, French, History, and Geography," Lily replied, checking her schedule.
"You'll be back here with old Peters then," Sarah said with a grin. She flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "He's not so bad, but watch he doesn't catch you chatting or he'll throw balled up paper at you."
Lily smiled and looked over to where Mr Peters had emerged from the Chapter House and was in deep discussion with two boys at the front of the classroom.
"That's Wayne and Royston," Sarah said. "They're captains of the chess club. Competition level, and Mr Peters is the lead teacher. We're going up against Burnham College next month and then on to the county finals in the new year, if we get through."
"Do you play?" Lily asked, making Sarah snort with laughter.
"God, no. My brother used to when he was here. He left last year and is now at Exeter Uni."
"What's he studying?" Lily asked.
"Theology and Philosophy. He wants to teach Religious Studies."
The bell rang for the end of registration, and Lily got up along with everyone else.
"Do you know where you're going yet?" Beth asked her. "It's the opposite direction to us or we’d show you."
"Thanks, I'll find it. I have the map they gave me in the office—"
"Which was drawn by a drunk two-year-old." Sarah shook her head with a laugh. "You'll never find anything looking at that thing. Wayne said he has Maths first, follow him and you won't get lost."
"Okay, thanks." Lily gave them a relieved smile, and they waved as they joined the rest of the students leaving the room. Lily held back, trying to spot Wayne in the crowd leaving the room.
"Hey, Lily Newbie, where’re you headed?" She turned at the sound of her name and saw the twins heading towards her, bags over their shoulders.
"Maths," she replied, and they nodded, almost as if that was what they expected her to say.
"Same as us. We'll make sure you don't get lost, Lily Newbie.”
"Thanks."They smiled at her, and she found herself smiling back, feeling relieved again.
Close up, she could see grey eyes and a firm jawline. She really couldn't see a difference in them. She'd met identical twins before, but there were subtle differences between them. Differences, that when they stood together, she could tell which was which. But these boys? She couldn’t see anything that would help her work out which was which. And it didn’t help that they were dressed identically in the college uniform.
"I'm Josh, he's Jake. And we'll be late if we just stand here.”
She coloured up again and hastily made her way out of the classroom. They directed her left and then fell into step with her, one on either side.
"Where’re you from?" Josh asked her, or at least she thought it was Josh.
"Brighton." It wouldn't be the last time she said that during the day.
"Brighton Rock," Jake said with a grin. They led her through a maze of corridors, not saying any more. She didn't know if they were waiting for her to speak or not, but she didn't really have anything to say; first day nerves always stole her tongue. They were good looking, but there was something about them that unnerved her. She put it down to how identical they were.
<
br /> "Here we are," Josh said, pointing to a door with Mathematics Department printed on it.
"You have a whole department for maths?" She was impressed. Her last college had one room for the entire school and only two classes in each year.
"Well, it likes to think it's a department. O'Connor is department head. He had that put up last year, when he finally managed to commandeer the walk-in storage cupboard from Computer Science. Gives him three rooms, which became the Department,” Josh replied. Or was it Jake? He pushed the door open and motioned for her to go first. She thanked him and went through, her eyes taking in the large room that held rows of tiered seating and fixed desks. They were arranged in a semi-circle that faced a giant whiteboard. The front seats and the back ones were already taken, but no one wanted the middle section, and they were all empty. She made her way up the steps and settled herself down, noticing that the twins took desks directly behind her. She looked around. There was a door on either side of the whiteboard. One was marked Trig and Calc and the other Foundation. Someone had tagged a piece of paper below the Trig and Calc sign saying, O’Conner’s Kingdom.
She turned back to the twins. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
“You’re welcome, Lily Newbie,” one of them said. But again, she had no idea which.
“What’ve you got next?” the other one asked her.
“English Lit.”
“We’ve Biology next; in the other direction. Have you got that map they give out?”
“Yeah.” She turned and drew it out of her bag. One of them reached forward and snagged it from her. He laid it out on his bag and took the pen his twin held out for him.
He snorted as he looked down at it. “You couldn’t find an apple in an orchard with this crap. Give me your timetable too,” he demanded, and she handed that over without even thinking about it.
The door banged closed, making Lily jump and turn to face the front.
“Right, you horrible lot! Once again we meet, so as you know you can call me Master Jedi, Sir, or Mr O’Connor. I’ll answer to any of those. Most of you reprobates I already know, some of you I may not. Newbies to this class, raise your hand, please.”