Sixty-One Nails

by Mike Shevdon

  "What's that one?"

  "It's a green fluorite," Megan answered. "Most of them are purple, so the green ones have a rarity value." I picked it out and dropped it into the pouch with the others. "I'm done then, I think," I told her.

  She walked back around the table and laid out a black velvet cloth, tipping out the pouch. She fell into a rhythm and recounted the stones, placing each at five points of a circle.

  "Tiger's eye to see beyond and pierce the veil, actinolite for balance and healing, malachite for connection to the spirit, red jasper for grounding and connection to the earth, green fluorite for guidance and self-knowledge."

  "You choose well. These will be well received." Blackbird offered the compliment with something of a degree of respect that had been absent before. "I just chose the ones that felt right. "

  "Just so."

  I turned back to Megan, pulling out my wallet.

  "No cards," said Blackbird. "This is a cash transaction between you and Megan. There is to be no intermediary."

  "For a friend of Blackbird's–" Megan began.

  "It is for a gift and for that it must be Rabbit's to give," Blackbird told her.

  At that Megan nodded her understanding and scooped the stones back into the pouch. "How much do I owe you?" I asked her.

  "You owe me nothing, Rabbit, but I will accept ten pounds if you agree?"

  I smiled and offered her a tenner from my wallet which she squirreled away in a cash box after handing me the black pouch. It felt weightier than it should. "Thank you, Megan." If this was a test, maybe I had passed it.

  "If I may?" She scanned quickly across her wares and plucked a stone from a box. She held out her closed hand for me to put mine underneath.

  I glanced at Blackbird and there was the slightest indication of a nod. I put my hand out, palm underneath her fist. She dropped the stone into it. It was shaped into a tiny pear in a deep glossy blue and had a silver ring attached where the pear-stalk would be. It felt initially cold in my palm but it pulsed into warmth in my hand as if fuelled by some inner heat. It didn't look any different, but it felt somehow alive in my palm. "Megan, we're not…" Blackbird started to explain then halted. She blushed very slightly. I looked from her to Megan, waiting for some explanation.

  Megan looked thoughtful for a moment then offered, "Lapis will aid your physical awareness and perhaps enhance the focus of your power. It has other properties, too, but those are the ones that are important for now. "

  "Why does it go warm like that?"

  I was talking to myself, but Megan thought the question was for her. "It does?" she said, surprised. "Hmmm," added Blackbird in a tone that told me she wasn't going to elaborate.

  "Here, let me." Megan held out her hand for the stone. I gave it her back she took it and turned away for a moment. When she turned back she had threaded a leather thong through the loop, which she tied deftly in a knot.

  She passed it back to me. "Wear it close to your heart and may it bring you good fortune."

  I didn't know quite what to say so I slipped the loop over my head, loosening my tie slightly to allow it to fall down inside next to my skin. I felt it rest cold against my chest then flare to warmth again before slowly cooling to skin temperature, confirming what I had felt before.

  "Thank you, Megan." It felt odd to start wearing rocks around my neck, but the warmth emanating from it told me there was more to this than I had thought, and I needed all the good fortune I could get.

  "Megan, it has been a pleasure to see you again, but we must go. Rabbit, it's time we were moving on." I nodded, acknowledging the gift once again and slipped the black pouch into my jacket pocket. Then I followed Blackbird through the random swell of people out of the market and back onto the cobbles. "Is she Fey?" I asked Blackbird as we moved out of earshot.

  She glanced sideways at me but then continued walking and, for a moment, I thought maybe she hadn't heard me. Then she spoke.

  "Megan is an interesting person because she is sensitive to our kind. She can usually tell if a person has Fey blood – she knew you did straight away. And you've seen the skill she has with stones." We were momentarily separated by an American couple with broad Western drawls delighting over the ancient monument of Covent Garden, reminding me that what people considered ancient was all relative.

  "But she has no power as far as I am aware," Blackbird continued as if she had not been interrupted. "I came across her when I was looking for a gift for someone and she had the ideal thing for me except that when she searched for it, it wasn't there. Some very light fingers were pilfering her stock. She knew they weren't the run-of-the-mill thief as this wasn't the first time things had gone missing from under her nose but she had not found a way to prevent it from happening. "

  "And you helped her."

  "I placed a simple ward on her stall making it uncomfortable to steal from her, then spread the word that if I caught the thief, I would have the price of the thievery out of their hide." She smiled a grim smile and for a moment there was something predatory there. "Couldn't you just have them arrested?"

  "The Feyre live outside of human law and human law enforcement. There are no Fey criminals. If you've done wrong, you've done wrong. Fey justice, when it is served, is immediate and personal. If someone transgresses against one of us then that one has the right to satisfaction, in blood if necessary. It is our way. "

  "Your way, you mean."

  "No, I meant what I said. It is our way whether you like it or not, and it is a way you will learn if you want to survive. Others will not make the allowances for you that I have."

  "I hadn't noticed you making allowances for me."

  "That's what's worrying me. Here, we're going down." Blackbird made for the entrance to Covent Garden underground station and waltzed through the barrier without validating a ticket. I fumbled for my card, then waved it at the machine and followed her. "How did you do that?" I indicated the barriers where the attendant watched people passing through but had completely failed to notice Blackbird walking through without a ticket. "Do what?"

  "You just walked through the barriers without paying."

  "The barriers aren't meant for me," she explained as the lift door opened. Thankfully at that time of day most of the people were coming up in the lift, not going down and we had the lift car to ourselves.

  "So you just walked through the barriers because you thought you could? Everyone else has to pay. "

  "I don't, though, do I?" she explained, as if I were a two year-old.

  I found myself trying to argue with the obvious. I had just watched her walk through the barrier, so I knew she could do it. If the reason she could do it was because she thought she could then perhaps that was reason enough. It occurred to me that there was an underlying arrogance to the Feyre. They believed they were privileged and because they believed it, they were. It was an arrogance I was familiar with amongst human beings, especially at senior levels within companies, but it translated to the Feyre well enough.

  The lift reached the bottom and the doors rolled open to the empty corridor. Blackbird exited and I followed her out and towards the platform, except that she swung right after the lifts. I followed her into the passage that joined the platform entry and exit passages. She halted outside a door marked Staff Only – No Entry. "Here we are." She tapped on the door and entered. "It said Staff Only," I pointed out, in case she hadn't noticed. "I know. It's to keep people out. "

  "Should we be in here then?"

  "No one comes in here unless they're entitled to, trust me. And if they did, they would regret it." Inside we took the spiral stairs leading down. A little way down, a passage led off to the base of the lift shaft but the steps spiralled on down. "Where does this lead to?"

  "I think it used to be a service tunnel, but it's been adapted for other purposes now. Here we are." The stairs ended in one of the circular tunnels that are common on the underground, except that this one looked as if it hadn't been used in years. The f
loor was smeared with something dark in places. Worryingly it looked organic in origin, as if something had decomposed there and left a stain.

  Blackbird passed me the brown sack with the pigeon sleeping in it and stepped slowly down the corridor away from the spiral stair. I hung back. The hairs on the back of my neck slowly lifted until I could feel them prickling down my neck. Some instinct was telling me it wasn't safe here and that my best course of action would be to flee back up the stairs as fast as I could. She paused and cocked her head as if listening for something. The light illuminated only the first fifteen feet, then slowly merged with the darkness beyond, vanishing into featureless grey.

  "Are we going down there?" I spoke softly to her back as the distance slowly increased between us. She held up her left hand with one finger raised to indicate that I should be quiet. She paused then stepped forward again into the edge of the darkness. As she did, a huge shaggy figure coalesced out of the grey and reached out for her. "Blackbird!" I shouted a warning.

  The long shaggy arms closed around her, sweeping her up. I was torn between trying to rescue her and running back up the stairs. My cowardice shamed me, but the thing was immense. Huge hairy arms grasped Blackbird's slight frame. It had swept her up off the floor as if she were weightless and was crushing her against its chest. What could I do?

  A long low growl came from the tunnel echoing from the walls as Blackbird kicked her legs helplessly, caught in its grasp. Why didn't she zap it or something? Torn between staying to watch Blackbird's fate and saving myself from a similar one, I stayed at the bottom of the stairs, hand on the rail ready to run for it when my laggard brain made sense of the low growling emanating from the creature.

  "Bbbbrrrraaaacckkkbiiirrrddd." The sound rolled like a glacier grinding gravel.

  It knew her name?

  I hesitated as I heard another noise. It was muffled, but it came from the figure pressed into the creature's chest.

  Blackbird was laughing.

  Four

  The scene transformed as my perceptions shifted. The arms became a hug, though on a scale that was hard to believe. Blackbird's thrashing became her return of the enthusiastic greeting she was receiving. The growl was speech, though it was slowed and so low that most of it was wasted on my ears and found rest somewhere low in my gut.

  The creature was still half-concealed in darkness, though it filled most of the tunnel. Grey shaggy hair covered it completely, sweeping down its shoulders and arms and hanging in loose dark curls where Blackbird was pressed against its chest, her arms buried up to her elbows in fur. Its head was wide where creamy tusks emerged from the darkly lined lips. Its eyes were black inside a ring of burnished gold and they were watching me.

  Blackbird's feet descended slowly to the floor, though she clung with her face pressed into the fur for a moment longer before stepping back.

  The creature swept its hand up then extended its palm, turning upwards.

  "My apologies, Gramawl, I am losing my manners in the joy of seeing you again. He is called Rabbit. Rabbit, this is Gramawl." As she said this, she made a complicated gesture, rotating her middle finger downwards and then indicated me and made a little rabbit with her hands. As she was signing, I realised that the last sentence spoken was meant as a cue for me.

  Blackbird stepped aside and I hesitantly stepped forward. I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. I staggered for a moment, unable to make sense of what was happening. I came to myself, clinging to the rail and finding my knees unsteady. Something washed over me, like waves of disorientation.

  "I suppose I should have anticipated that." She turned back to Gramawl who retreated slightly into the dimness. She wobbled her fist and then tapped it sharply against her palm, then made a series of sharp sweeping motions, ushering Gramawl backwards.

  Gramawl made a small circle to indicate us both then added an outstretched hand that tipped from side to side. The sensation dissipated and I found myself able to stand again.

  "Yes, I know what you thought, but even if that were the case, that is a poor welcome, isn't it?" She pressed the knuckles of each hand together for emphasis. There was a reprimand in her voice, mixed with the sort of fondness reserved for a well-intentioned but overprotective uncle.

  The shape retreated further into the dimness.

  "Oh, stop it. Come out and meet Rabbit properly." She was both frustrated and amused.

  Clearly the creature understood her speech as it came forward, this time fully into the light. As it emerged further I became aware that it was hunched over. Shoulders loomed behind the head, sloped down to fit in the tunnel. I thought it would shamble forward, but its step was light, full of grace and poise, like a dancer.

  There was a seismic rumbling, accompanied by a complex bow and ending with an outstretched palm. "He apologises for his misunderstanding, Rabbit, and offers you welcome, if you will accept it." I gathered my wits.

  "Thank you, Gramawl." I bowed in turn, keeping my eyes on the shaggy form. As he approached I became aware of his scent. I had thought he would smell like a beast, but instead there was the freshness of new-turned earth. I could see, now I was closer, that the shaggy fur was not matted and grey but layered with grey over brown, over black. It had the quality of a finely groomed horse's mane and I wondered who had spent time combing through that mountain of fur.

  "I was about to explain that Rabbit had brought you a gift, Gramawl, but now I'm not sure whether he will want to part with it." She was comfortable speaking and signing at once, though Gramawl appeared to understand our speech well enough. Was there some etiquette to this?

  Gramawl, lifted and then dropped his arms, pantomiming disappointment. At the same time his voice, if you could use that term, dropped in tone until I could only feel it rumbling in my bones. The hackles on my neck rose. I found myself stepping back.

  "Only a little something," she teased, holding out her hand as if swinging a sweet by the wrapper or a tiny mouse by the tail and ignoring the shivering air. The great eyes flicked back to me, luminescent in the overhead lights. His flat wet nose wriggled, seeking clues.

  "Of course, that was before you offended my friend. "

  "I'm not offended," I interjected, a little too quickly. He swept away the air with his hand, rubbed one palm against the other and added an opening and closing gesture.

  Blackbird translated for me. "He says you have accepted his apology and that it was only a misunderstanding and now he would like to know what you've brought."

  Blackbird stepped up to him, smiling, and affectionately stroked his cheek above her head. "I don't know, I bring people to meet you and this is how you welcome them. Why don't you show Gramawl his gift, Rabbit?"

  Taking my cue, I reached into my jacket for the stones, but she shook her head. "Those are for a little later. Put the sack on the floor and leave it, somewhere in the open."

  I stepped forward, still a little hesitant near Gramawl, and placed the sack on the ground and stepped back. "You need to open it a little or it's not going to come out," Blackbird added. "It'll fly off." I hesitated.

  "That isn't going to be a problem, is it, Gramawl?"

  There was a rhythmic huffing sound and my stomach vibrated to the sound of his amusement.

  I stepped back to the sack and opened the neck, letting it fall open around the bird. It hopped out onto the sack in a flurry, getting its bearings. I stepped back again. The bird was initially bemused to find itself underground. It looked about, putting its head on one side and then suddenly focused, darting sideways as it caught sight of the huge figure. It burst into the air in a clatter of wings.

  There was a dull thump, like a pulse in the air. I blinked.

  All was silent again. My brain caught up with my ears and I realised that Gramawl had taken it, mid-flight. I hadn't even seen him move.

  Gramawl let out a low rumbling that might have been a purr if it had been high enough. He pressed his fist to his chest then touched his lips with his forefinger, opening his
hand into a fluttering motion.

  "He says it tastes of light and air," Blackbird translated, "and offers his thanks."

  "You're welcome," I offered, still trying to figure out how something so big could move that fast.

  "Delightful as it is to share such things with you, Gramawl, we really came to see your Mistress. Is she at home?"

  He used a two-handed gesture, one hand inside the other, that I couldn't interpret, then placed his palm outwards, rotating it to point at the ground. "We'll wait here then, while you check." She turned to me. "He thinks she might be sleeping, so we'll wait a moment."

  He merged back into the dark and vanished, leaving me staring at the empty sack.

  "Do they all eat pigeons?" I asked Blackbird.

  "No, but Gramawl is a creature of open twilight and he's been living down here a long time. Bringing him something from the daylight world above is like offering him a taste of autumn sunshine."