Lillian is unaware of Bridget’s reserved response, nothing seems to penetrate her eternal happiness, she shouts into the house. ‘Steve! Come here, you won’t believe who’s here to see you.’ She turns to Bridget, ‘Come in, come in.’ She ushers her inside. Bridget makes her way through the living room, she’s taking it all in, the supernormal room. Everything that Bridget had wanted to accomplish, well, maybe with a little less pink. Her Dad pops his head around the kitchen, they both freeze. He has aged and turned grey at his temples but other than that, he’s still the same. A smile breaks his shocked stare. He rushes over and hugs her tight. Bridget can’t help but smile. It’s good to feel her father, she didn’t know how much she had missed this hug. She wants it to last forever, but eventually, they let each other go. Lillian had disappeared, and Steve holds Bridget at arm’s length.
‘Look at you. Wow, a grown woman.’ He gives her another quick hug. ‘I’ve missed you.’
Bridget gives him a bright smile. ‘I’ve missed you too!’
‘Come, do you want a coffee, tea? I want to hear all about you.’
Bridget follows Steve into a cozy kitchen, Lilian has left a fresh pot of tea and some biscuits. Somehow this irritates Bridget, the apparent play to try to win her over. Strangely enough, this brings her back to earth. Although she’s not a fan of Luna, her mother did not deserve to be left behind for a younger woman. And she’s angry with herself, for judging her mother before she had all the facts. This lesson in humility angers her. All the warm and fuzzy she felt earlier melts away. She slides on a barstool and bites into one of the cookies, before she looks at her father again.
‘What happened, Dad? You left Mom?’ okay straight for the jugular.
Steve glances away, still a bit embarrassed. ‘It’s complicated.’
‘It always is. Trust me, I understand complicated.’
‘Lillian and I fell in love, and you know how your mother is. Nothing you do is good enough. The constant critique. Of all people, I thought you would understand.’
‘Gosh, that I understand. But Dad, Lillian must be my age. Did you meet her at one of your classes?’ Bridget is doing the math in her head. Lilian must have barely been eighteen when they met. That’s… disgusting.
Now Steve is becoming defensive. ‘We love each other, that’s what counts. After you left, I wanted to leave, but I didn’t have the courage. Luna is overwhelming, I didn’t want to drown.’ Bridget has a hard time with this. She curses Maeve for not giving her a heads up. Now she understands. It’s hard to swallow that your father has left to be with someone your age. Somehow, it doesn’t feel right. She can’t stay here; she needs to think about it. She jumps up. ‘I have to go.’
‘You didn’t tell me anything about you? What do you do? Why are you in New Orleans?’
He wants to touch her arm, but Bridget moves out of reach. Pain crosses his face before it turns into resignation. ‘Sorry Dad, I… I need some time.’ She waves her arm in the general direction of where she thinks Lilian went. ‘I… I…’ and then she just turns and gets out of the house as quickly as possible.
Outside, she takes in big gulps of air and calms herself down. She brushes away tears she didn’t even realize she had shed. Who would ever think she would feel sorry for her Mom? So many mixed feelings, she curses out loud.
When Bridget finally arrives back at the house, it’s dark. Quietly she enters and hears conversations in the kitchen and living room. Moon is waiting for her in the hallway. She crouches down and pets him, while she whispers in his ear. He stares at her intently for a minute and tells her Luna is upstairs in the fall room. She gives him a quick kiss before she gathers her courage and walks up the stairs. The fall room is facing west at the end of the hallway. Without further delay, she knocks on the door. Nothing happens. She knocks again, now she hears noises coming from the room and Tom opens the door in his robe. She swallows a snappy comment. He’s not happy to see her at all. ‘What do you want?’
‘I came to apologize.’ He raises an eyebrow.
‘It’s about fucking time. You’re a brat, Madigan.’
‘I’m sorry. There’s no excuse, I should have… you know…’ Tom lets Bridget sweat, the bastard.
‘Have all the facts?’ Tom fills in with a wry smile.
‘Something like that.’
‘Luna is sleeping.’ Now it’s Bridget’s turn to raise her eyebrow, as she can hear Luna walking through the room. She and Tom have a stare down; he eventually steps back. ‘Behave.’
Luna stands in the doorway, back to her arrogant self. For a moment all things unsaid hang between them.
‘I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t know.’ Luna doesn’t respond. ‘What Dad did sucks, and I shouldn’t have talked to you that way.’ Bridget is no longer able to look in her mother’s pain-filled eyes, she stares at her feet. ‘I’m so sorry.’ She feels her mother’s tension fading and dares to look up again. When she meets Luna’s eyes, she sees relief. Luna steps forward and hugs her daughter for the first time since she came back. Bridget tenses but then lets herself be enveloped by her mother’s hug. For now, it’s enough. Maybe the first small step towards healing their relationship.
FAIRY
If they hadn’t been so worried, Ceri and Ron might have enjoyed their time in Fairy. It feels like they’ve been traveling for four days and they can’t imagine what Freya is going through in the meantime. It feels like they are making such slow progress. What happened to the rest? They can only guess how the showdown with Lucy went. Then there are their families to worry about—kids and wife, and husband. Wondering what they’re making of this. Time doesn’t work the same here. It could be an hour in the real world or a month. There are stories of people who spend a day in Fairy, which turned out to be tens of years in the real world, and on their return, they found their families all grown up and old. They can only hope that’s not the case, that would be unimaginable. Ron convinced Ceri they shouldn’t worry too much about that. Nothing they can do about it and worrying will only cause stress. Something fairies will home in on and abuse to no end. So, every morning they spend an hour meditating, centering themselves and stay focused on their magic, so that it’s ready to be used at a moment’s notice.
Today the landscape is finally changing. The worms glide forward at a steady pace. Their host is amiable and chatty. Ready to point out something that he finds noteworthy. This part of Fairy seems to be desert-like, in that the sand dunes go on and on, and there is little or no vegetation. At night their wasp-like creatures are as intent on getting your blood as our mosquitos. The Red Rider had a little pill that would keep them at bay. They gave up on the ‘not eating’ rule in Fairy, as they’re going to be there for some time. At certain times, day or night, there would be groups of what looked like steampunk like scooters zipping through the air at considerable speed. There must be some sort of air travel going on in Fairy. Ron would love to get his hands on one of those, but they would never reach a place where they can on the ground. Maybe in the green city.
Ron and Ceri spend their days talking about everything and nothing, they haven’t spent much time together once they moved out of the house. Ron is consumed by the Hat and his family. And as Ceri rarely works at the Hat and has young children of her own; they only run into each other if something is going on with the family. Not a time for serious discussions. It’s the only good thing right now. To be able to get to know each other as adults. Ron is pleasantly surprised. He only knew Ceri as a party girl, but that is long behind her now. She’s a sensible witch, with quite a lot of power. As the youngest, she manages to stay unnoticed most of the time. Apparently, she does that on purpose. The advantage of being the youngest, you can learn from your siblings’ mistakes. Ceri is equally impressed by her only brother’s insights and humor. Funny how this forced time together makes them reconnect and develop a renewed appreciation for each other.
They’re dee
p into the family analyses when the Red Rider makes a growling noise. They’ve learned this means that something is up. When they look up, there is green on the horizon. Excited, they jump up. Ron holds his hand above his eyes to keep the sun out as to have a better view. He can’t make out much yet, but it feels good that after days of inaction, they can finally try to find the Ferrymaster.
It takes at least another couple of hours before they reach this imposing city. A massive wall of impenetrable plant life surrounds the city and gives it its green color. Strange looking flowers pop open when they get closer, and the Red Rider shouts a warning not to come too close. They shoot poison arrows if they don’t like you. The city itself is made out of a giant tree, an unimaginably big tree with, what looks like, branches spread out and morphed into natural beehives. Fairies are buzzing around those like busy bees. Every pod looks like a home. Between the hives are enormous open elevators. Big platforms that go up and down operated by giant gears. The sound of buzzing, clicking gears and fairies talking is almost too overwhelming after the peaceful desert. And the sweet smells, it all makes their mouth water.
The worms come to a halt about two hundred feet away from the gate. The Red Rider turns to them. ‘We don’t go any closer than this. You need to get off.’
After a couple of days, they had the hang of sliding off the scruffy beasts. Ron and Ceri now turn to their host. Ceri smiles at him, ‘Thank you so much for your hospitality and kindness. Any advice you can give us?’
The Rider shows them what looks like a sad smile. Is that compassion they see in his face? ‘We wish you good luck. The city is…’ He pauses to think for a second before he continues, ‘unpredictable. Don’t linger longer than necessary.’ Ron and Ceri glance at the city. It feels like an ominous warning. When they turn back, they find the Rider is on top of the worm and already moving. He never turns around.
‘Well, that doesn’t sound very encouraging.’
Ron shrugs ‘What choice do we have? Let’s get it over with.’
They make their way over to what looks like a gate. It looks like two giant Hawaiian lei in the form of a curtain, with bright colors and exotic flowers slowly billowing in the wind. When they come closer, the leis seem to reach for them. Ron holds Ceri back. ‘Don’t forget about the poison arrows.’
‘I know. But otherwise, how are we going to get in?’ Ron frowns, he scans his surroundings again. ‘Right. Carefully.’ He lets her arm go, and they inch forward. The closer they get, the more curiously the leis seem to move. They’re like a living creature wanting to examine them. Like being frisked at TSA. It feels very overwhelming, but so far, they don’t seem hostile. Not a regular fairy insight, but this ‘gate’ might be a fairy or some other creature as far as they know. The leis envelop them, Ron stands rigid, while Ceri relaxes and enjoys the experience. Ron has never been good at going with the flow. He likes to be in control of everything. Ceri, on the other hand, enjoys the difference and finds it easy to adjust. The leis caress them, the flowers sniff them, for the lack of a better word. After several minutes, they are satisfied and move back like a curtain to welcome Ceri and Ron inside. Ron lets out a long breath, Ceri laughs. ‘That was fun!’
‘Yeah, it was great.’ Replies Ron with a voice dripping of sarcasm. Nobody pays any attention to them. Fairies fly through the air. It all looks very chaotic, but there must be a method to the madness. On the large elevators are supplies or things being moved up and down.
Once they step inside, they get totally overwhelmed by the loud buzzing noise. The wall must be doing something else, as the noise is horrible, too much for human ears. Before Ron even begins to think, he mumbles a spell and the noise is reduced to a gentle sound. But the noise stops altogether, and all the fairies turn to them. Angry faces look down on them. They try to move back to the gate, but they’re surrounded entirely. It’s obvious they don’t take kindly to the use of magic. One of the fairies starts chirping in a language they don’t understand.
Ceri bows ‘We’re very sorry. The noise, it was too much for us.’ The leader narrows its eyes at her. With one flick of the hand, all fairies start to buzz again and start to buzz around them, until they’re entirely surrounded by angry fairies. Like a ball. They get lifted off the ground and transported up into the tree.
NEW ORLEANS
Bridget leaves the tomb. At the moment, she feels more comfortable talking to the dead instead of the living, a first. Her magic is growing. There is so much to learn. Moon trots up to her, she opens her mouth and snaps it back closed when she hears a warning in her head. Moon wants her to be quiet. He doesn’t use words, but she knows exactly what he means. With his nose, he touches her hand and looks in the direction to the right. The wildest part of the garden. The scrubs and trees are thick here. As quiet as possible, she follows him, which is quite a challenge. The branches whip against her and scratch her arms. Then she remembers, she’s a witch! A spell flows from her lips, and sure enough, the trees and bushes are parting for her and happy to let her pass in peace. Soon enough, she hears hushed voices. She strains to see if she recognizes who is out there.
‘What are you doing? Be careful. Give it back.’ That’s Luna, she recognizes that voice anywhere.
‘Don’t be ridiculous, it’s totally safe. I know my sister.’ And of course, Tara. They pretend they don’t get along, but when it comes to magic, they’re thick as thieves. Bridget and Moon inches closer and closer till she can see them tucked away between some hazel trees. It’s a cozy spot with a bench and a small wooden altar. It must be one of Tara’s hideaways. Bridget can almost taste the magic that’s swirling around the women. It’s not the usual taste of sunlight or flowers, this taste bitter and resentful. Shit. They’re meddling with Lucy’s spell book. She wants to step out, but Moon catches her pant leg. ‘Wait!’ Pops in her head. She looks from Moon to the women and back. ‘Okay,’ she communicates. He lets her go. They settle in their hideout, Bridget puts her arm around Moon, he leans into her.
Tara and Luna are way too busy to notice Bridget. When Luna suggested they go out and try a spell out of the book, Tara jumped on it. It was hard to believe only a couple of days ago, she was so happy to have the house full of family. And now… she longs for quieter days. Tara is no fool, and she’s well aware that this thing with Lucy is far from over. Soon, very soon, they will need to decide how they’re going to take the Dagger away from Lucy. If she only had any clue how to do that. What would happen to the connection? Will she be able to sense the Dagger’s location even if she doesn’t have it? Then they have no chance. She can feel the Wand laying with her Grandmother in the tomb right now. Too many variables.
‘Mom!’ snaps Luna.
Tara shakes her head and tries to focus on what Luna is doing. She stands in the middle of a small pentacle that Tara had made in the stonework in this little clearing. They had closed the circle; whatever Luna is doing should be contained. The spell they want to try suggests they could communicate with the dead. So they thought they would to try to reach Seamus. A dark cloud is forming in front of Luna. It’s growing and pushes against the boundaries of the protective circle.
‘I can’t see anything,’ says Tara while she tries to figure out what’s in the dark cloud.
‘I didn’t even call Seamus yet.’ Luna feels slightly panicked.
The cloud starts to swirl around Luna and bounces against the circle. But there is no way out.
‘Let me go!’ booms a deep voice.
Luna and Tara frantically scan the cloud; they can’t make out a form.
‘Send it back! Stop the spell!’ offers Tara.
Luna tries to focus on the spell in the book, but the cloud knocks it out of her hand. A scream escapes her, and the cloud bursts out laughing. This pisses Luna off, and she turns around, weaving her hands and shouts, ‘Reverse the spell, go back to where you came from!’ With her hands, she makes a movement as pushing the cloud away. N
othing happens. Tara looks more and more concerned. There’s nothing she can do as she’s outside the circle.
The cloud seems to be sucked up by one specific spot in the circle.
‘HA! That will teach you.’ Says Luna as she comes closer to see where the cloud is sucked into. Faster and faster the cloud disappears in a little hole in the ground. With a loud PLOP, the last swirls disappear. Luna peers at the spot.
‘Is it gone?’ Asks Tara in anticipation. Luna shrugs.
‘I think so.’
‘Maybe we should call it a day.’
‘Yeah. We should research more before we try anything.’ Luna agrees. With one last look at the hole, she starts to walk the protective circle anti clock to open it up. Once she’s done, she finds the black book and pockets it.
‘Wow, that was weird. Do you know what you called?’
‘It didn’t seem to come from the spirit world.’
A rumble comes from the spot where the cloud had disappeared. Both women whip their heads back in the direction, just to see a tiny girl in cute frilly dress climb out of the hole.
Moon growls, Bridget quickly puts her hand on his snout.
Luna and Tara are fascinated by the little creature. Slowly they move closer.
‘Help.’ The thinnest little shrieky voice comes out of the little girl. Luna wants to bend forward, but Tara puts her hand on her arm to caution her. Something is off here.
The little girl waves her tiny hands in the air for help.
‘We need to help her.’ Luna shakes off Tara’s hand and steps forward. She crouches down and sticks out her hand.
‘DON’T!’ shouts Tara, but it’s too late, the little girl has jumped onto Luna’s hand. Luna lifts her up in front of her face. The little girl touches Luna’s face. ‘Oh, I like your soul.’ Her eyes seem to shine like little diamonds. Luna frowns, the little girl’s face transforms into something ugly with a gaping mouth that holds rows and rows of razor-sharp little teeth. Luna screams and throws the little girl in the air. A booming laugh fills the clearing. The little girl zigzags away between the trees.
The Dagger Page 22