by Jodi McIsaac
“Thank you for waiting,” said Riona. She looked at her husband, who cleared his throat.
“I apologize for the way I may have received you earlier,” he said stiffly.
“Don’t worry about it,” Cedar mumbled.
“We’ve been telling you the truth,” Riona said. “We really don’t have a way of getting in touch with Finn. But he does call every so often, and you have our word that we’ll pass on your message at the first opportunity.” Cedar nodded.
“I don’t mean to keep you,” Riona continued, “but would you mind just telling us a little bit about Eden? What is she like?”
“She’s beautiful,” Cedar said, smiling despite her agitation. Thinking about Eden always made her smile. “She looks a lot like Finn. She’s smart, very smart. She taught herself how to read when she was four. She likes to draw, and she’s very good. She loves animals, and she likes watching shows like National Geographic. She says she wants to be a world explorer when she grows up.” Under her breath, she added, “Ironically enough.”
She had meant the comment to go unheard, but Riona immediately asked, “Why is that ironic?”
“It’s not,” Cedar said quickly. “I was just thinking of something else. You know what, I really have to get back to work. Thank you again for your time, and please pass on my message to Finn the next time he calls.”
Cedar stood and walked purposefully toward the door. She swung it open and walked out, but before it closed behind her she thought she heard Rohan’s gruff voice say to his wife, “Call the druid.”
CHAPTER FIVE
I must be insane, Cedar told herself as she drove around the streets of Halifax later that evening. Nothing about her day had been normal. As soon as she had arrived back at the office from the Donnellys’ house, she had called her mother to ask her why she hadn’t said anything about knowing Finn’s parents. There had been no answer. After a distracted meeting at work, Cedar checked the messages on her cell phone. There was one from Maeve, who sounded tense, but she didn’t saying anything except that Cedar should make sure not to come home late. The moment Cedar walked in the door, Maeve had rushed out, without the customary small talk and recap of the day’s activities.
After dinner, Riona had called, saying they had more information for her about Finn, but they wanted to discuss it in person, so she wondered if she and Rohan could come over to Cedar’s place. Cedar hadn’t been too keen on the idea, but she wanted to hear what they had to say, so she suggested they meet somewhere else. Riona had given her the address of a pub called the Fox and Fey, and Cedar had agreed to meet them there as soon as she could.
Now she was questioning her judgment on a number of levels. First, she had left Eden with Jane. Cedar had tried to call Maeve, but there was no answer, which was strange. She wondered if her mother was unwell. So she had begged a favor of Jane and told her, without giving too many details, it had something to do with Finn, which had sealed the deal. Children were not Jane’s forte, to put it mildly, but she and Eden got along well enough, and Cedar was sure they’d be fine as long as Eden didn’t convince Jane to give her a nose piercing or something.
Then there was the small matter of where she was going. When she punched the address into her GPS, it came up in a little back lane in the Hydrostone, a newly trendy area in the heart of the city’s traditionally sketchy North End. Cedar was surprised. Her hair salon was in the Hydrostone, and she had never come across a pub called the Fox and Fey. Halifax had no shortage of pubs, but it wasn’t such a large city that a new watering hole could pop up without generating some buzz at the office. Cedar wondered how long it had been open.
She parked on the side of the road and double-checked the address. The sign on the building in front of her said, ANGUS MCKENNA & ASSOCIATES, ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW. Most of the buildings in the immediate area were made of brick and stone, but this one had cream clapboard siding with dark brown crossbeams on the upper floor. According to Riona, the entrance to the pub was in the back of this building. Cedar shifted in her seat. Maybe she should have insisted on meeting at Starbucks.
She got out of the car and walked around the building toward the back lane. She looked at the exterior, expecting a doorway or entrance of some sort. But the back of the building was featureless save for two small windows on the second floor. A black iron railing wrapped around the building about three feet away from the outer walls, but the only doorway in sight was the one out front labeled LAW OFFICE. Cedar pulled out her phone and was about to recheck the directions when she stopped. A man was leaning against a large green dumpster in the lane just in front of her. Cedar’s muscles tensed, ready to run. But then her mind engaged and she realized that this wasn’t a man so much as it was a boy, or maybe a teenager. He was slightly shorter than she was, and thinner. Still, she didn’t go any farther. He looked up and his eyes widened, as if he was as surprised to see her as she was to see him. “Cedar?” he said, and his voice broke on the last syllable.
Cedar’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know my name?” she asked.
“Rohan sent me. He said you were coming. He asked me to keep an eye out for you,” he said, standing up a little straighter and lifting his chin.
“I see. And you’re what, his bodyguard?” Cedar said, raising an eyebrow.
The boy let out a burst of laughter. “I wish!” he said. “Nah, he just thought you might need some help finding the place. My name is Oscar.” He walked over to her and held out his hand. Cedar hesitated, and then shook it.
“So, where are Rohan and Riona?” Cedar asked. “I’m supposed to meet them at a pub, but it’s sounding kind of sketchy, to be honest.” She looked at him closer. “And are you even old enough to go in?”
She could see the color rise in the boy’s cheeks even in the dimming light. “It’s just a pub,” he answered. “It’s not sketchy, it’s nice. And it’s kind of a family place, so, yeah, I can go in even though I’m not, er, technically nineteen yet.”
Cedar started to ask another question, but Oscar interrupted her. “Oh, and I’m not really supposed to talk to you. Rohan said I should keep my mouth shut if it was at all possible. But I don’t want to be rude, y’know?”
“Why aren’t you supposed to talk to me?” Cedar asked.
The boy shrugged. “Dunno. We just don’t usually…well, anyway, it’s fine. It’s not like I’m saying anything important. Do you want to go in?”
Cedar paused. Did she want to go in? Then she looked around. “Go in where?”
Oscar grinned, and Cedar felt a smile tug at the corners of her own lips at the way his face lit up and how he almost bounced on the balls of his feet. He reminded her of a dog she and her mother had owned before they moved into the city. She half-expected to hear his tail beating against the pavement. “It’s the coolest thing, really. Unless you’re with me, you can’t see it.”
“Uh-huh,” Cedar said, cocking one eyebrow again and waiting for him to point her in the right direction.
“Serious!” Oscar exclaimed. “Here, I’ll show you.” He held out his arm as if he expected Cedar to take it. She stared at the proffered arm for a moment. Then she sighed and placed her hand in the crook of his elbow.
Despite herself, she tightened her grip, as a staircase suddenly appeared in front of them where before there had been only concrete. The staircase led down into the ground, and at the bottom was a large wooden door. Cedar swore, and Oscar’s grin grew wider. “It’s always there, y’know. You just can’t see it unless you’re with me, or someone like me. Crazy, eh? I mean, I imagine it would be. I’ve always been able to see it, but it would be cool to see it appear out of nowhere.”
Cedar stared alternately at the newly visible staircase and at the boy whose arm she still gripped. Then she let go and took a half step away from him. The staircase was still there in front of her. “How come I can still see it?” she asked.
“’Cause now you know where it is,” he said with a small shrug. “If someone walks by who’s neve
r seen it before, they’ll just see the railing on top, like you did at first. It’s there so no one falls in by accident. But now that you know what to look for, you should be able to find it without any trouble.”
“Wait, how is this possible?” Cedar demanded. “Who are you?” Her mind was reeling. So Eden wasn’t the only one who could do magic, or whatever this was.
“I’m just Oscar,” he said, and his smile began to droop. “Hey, do me a favor, would you, and don’t tell Rohan that I talked so much. I don’t think I was supposed to make such a big deal out of the whole seeing/not-seeing thing. And he’s going to kick my ass if he knows that I kept you standing out in this alley for half the night. C’mon, I’ll lead the way.”
With that, he headed down the stairs. Halfway down, he looked back and noticed that Cedar was still standing where he had left her. “C’mon!” he beckoned. “Don’t be scared! It’s totally safe. You’re with me!”
Don’t freak out, Cedar willed herself. After all, this was a good sign. If Oscar could make staircases materialize out of thin air and knew Riona and Rohan, it was becoming increasingly likely that they might be able to explain Eden’s condition. A new thought occurred to Cedar.
“Are you one of Rohan’s sons?” Cedar asked as she followed him down the staircase, clutching tightly to the side railing.
“Me? Nah. His sons are Finn and Dermot, and he’s got a daughter, Molly,” Oscar answered as they arrived at the bottom. They were standing in front of an intricately carved wooden door. Every square inch of the door was carved, not into one picture, but in seemingly random designs that nevertheless presented an incredibly pleasing overall impression. Cedar felt something inside her stir as she looked at the artwork. Then Oscar pushed open the door.
They stepped into a small, dimly lit room with round tables on one side and booths lining the other. The ceiling was low and made of a shiny, dark wood that was as intricately carved as the door. At the back was a long, polished bar, and set into one wall was a large fireplace that threw dancing lights on the brass rail. Behind the bar was a door that Cedar presumed led to the kitchen. As the bell above the front door signaled their presence, a few of the pub’s patrons glanced toward them. Their gazes lingered on her for a moment, and then they returned their attention to their drinking companions. Most of the patrons, fewer than a dozen in total, sat in pairs or small groups.
Oscar was standing next to her, watching her sweep the room with her eyes. “See?” he whispered. “Nothing to worry about. C’mon, they’re over here.”
He led her to a booth near the back of the room, the closest to the bar. Rohan and Riona were sitting on the same side of the booth, and Riona waved to Cedar as she approached.
“Cedar! You made it! I’m so glad,” she said. She looked as though she wanted to give her a hug, but she was trapped on the inside of the booth and Rohan sat solidly in place, his eyes focused on something behind Cedar.
Cedar turned to Oscar. “Thanks for your help,” she told him.
He grinned. “No problem.”
Cedar slid into the other side of the booth. Rohan gave her a nod of greeting. “Did you bring Eden?” he asked.
“No. I don’t usually bring my six-year-old daughter to a strange pub at night,” Cedar said. “She’s home with a sitter.” Rohan and Riona shared a disappointed glance.
“Forgive us, Cedar. I admit we were hoping you would bring Eden, but I see now how that wouldn’t have worked from your perspective,” Riona said.
“No worries,” Cedar said. “So about that whole staircase thing outside. How did he do that? Is it an illusion of some sort?” she asked, although she had a strong feeling the answer would not be so simple.
Rohan squeezed himself out of the booth and stood up, ignoring the question. “Getting another drink,” he said. “Can I get you something?”
“Sure. A Keith’s,” Cedar said. She watched as he walked up to the bar and spoke to the bartender, an older man with a thick white beard. Cedar thought the bartender would look more at home wearing a sou’wester on the docks than standing behind a bar. She turned her attention back to Riona, who had been watching her carefully. “It is an illusion, of sorts,” the older woman said. “But it’s more than that. You seem to be taking it quite well that some things are not as they seem.”
Cedar picked up a leather coaster and turned it over in her hands. Was this some sort of test? “Maybe I’m finally getting an open mind,” she said. “Finn used to talk about things being not quite as they seemed…about magic being real. Is that what this is? Magic?” She felt foolish once the question left her lips, but what other explanation was there?
Rohan returned and placed Cedar’s drink in front of her. She mumbled her thanks but kept her attention fixed on Riona.
“In a sense, yes, it’s magic,” Riona said. “We can help you. We can help Eden. You said she’s special, but she’s not alone. Finn is special too.”
Cedar grimaced. She was tired of all this beating around the bush. It was getting her nowhere. If she was honest, maybe they would be too. She took a deep breath, and a chance. “Eden can create portals to other places by opening a door. Is that what you mean by ‘special’? Can Finn do that? Can you?”
The silence in the booth was deafening. After a long moment, Riona spoke slowly, her measured words a contrast to Cedar’s hurried frankness. “Finn has a similar gift, though not exactly the same. It is quite rare. The rest of us—everyone here in this pub and some others who are not here—are special too, but in different ways.”
“What kind of people are you?” Cedar asked in a whisper, thinking of Finn. She had thought she’d known him better than anyone. Apparently, she hadn’t known him at all.
“We’re just different,” Riona said. “Right now, the important thing is that your daughter is one of us. We think she is very special indeed. But I’m curious about you, Cedar. Are you from this area? Where did you grow up?”
Cedar frowned at the shift in conversation, but she answered the question because she didn’t want to be rude. Riona followed it up with several more, seemingly fascinated by Cedar’s mundane background. She asked questions about Cedar’s childhood in small-town Chester, just outside of Halifax, her experience in art school, her return to Halifax, and her work at Ellison. Rohan remained silent but appeared to be listening closely. After twenty minutes or so had passed, Cedar managed to turn the conversation away from her and back to Eden.
“I’ve told you a lot about me,” she said. “It’s all pretty ordinary. You still haven’t told me much about who you are, and why Eden can create these portals. But you know, don’t you?”
“We have a very good idea, yes,” Riona answered. “I paid a brief visit to your mother this afternoon to confirm what I suspected about Eden. And my suspicions were correct.”
“Wait, you went to my apartment?” Cedar asked.
Riona looked uncomfortable. “You don’t have to worry, I was very unobtrusive. Eden didn’t even know I was there. Maeve was quite insistent that I couldn’t meet her. She didn’t even let me in, actually. Of course, I could have gone in anyway, but I want to be respectful of your family. I hope you know that. As it turns out, I didn’t need to go in, or to see Eden in person. I could hear her. It told me everything I needed to know.”
“Hear her?” Cedar asked.
Riona nodded. “You can’t hear it, but each of us, everyone who is like Finn, sounds different than others do. It’s like a musical signature, of sorts, called the Lýra. I could hear it coming from inside your apartment. We know Maeve isn’t one of us, so it must have been coming from Eden. It’s that simple.”
“Nothing about this is simple,” Cedar said. Just then she heard the door to the pub crash open, and she twisted in her seat to see who had burst in so violently. It was the last person she would have expected. Her mother stood in the entrance, her eyes wild and her gray hair askew.
Rohan stood up at once. He looked at Maeve and hissed through clenched teeth, �
�I told you not to come here!” Cedar stared at him, then back at her mother.
“Mum? What are you doing here?” she asked, also getting to her feet.
Maeve glanced at her daughter but then focused on Rohan. “What did you do?” she asked him, her voice shaking. “Where is she?”
“Who, Maeve? Who are you talking about?” asked Riona, stepping forward.
“The child, of course! You think I don’t know? You think I don’t have the Sight, just because I don’t use it for your every whim?” Maeve’s voice dripped with venom. “I have had a vision, a terrible vision, the clearest I have ever seen. I saw her with him. I saw her with Lorcan; I’m sure of it. Now tell me, what did you do?”
Cedar stared at her mother in shock. “What are you talking about, Mum? Why are you here?”
Maeve stumbled over to where Cedar was standing and grabbed her arm. “I have been trying to call you. Where is she? Where did you leave her?”
“Mum, you’re freaking me out. Leave who? Eden?”
“Yes, yes, of course Eden! Where is she?”
“She’s at home. Jane is with her. What are you talking about? You’re not making sense. Here, sit down.” She pulled forward a chair from a nearby table, but Maeve pushed it away.
“Damn it, Cedar, you don’t understand what’s at stake here!” Maeve said, raising her voice. Rohan cleared his throat and gave her a silencing look. She ignored him and looked pleadingly at Cedar. “Call her. Call Jane. Make sure Eden is safe. Then go home, and for pity’s sake, don’t leave her again.”
Cedar pulled her phone out of her pocket. She had turned it on silent mode earlier in the evening, and sure enough, there were three missed calls from Maeve. Cedar hit “Jane’s cell” on the display.
The pub was silent, and every ear seemed attuned to the ringing of the phone. It rang once…twice…then there was a click and Jane’s voice, “Hello?”
Cedar tried to sound casual. “Hey, Jane, how’s it going over there?”