by Nancy M Bell
“You could, I suppose. But what would that solve? Your reputation in the village is ruined, no respectable establishment would hire you. Mum and I get by just fine, but we can’t afford to feed another mouth without something more coming in. I’m sorry, Bella. We’re already feeding Raven for you.”
“I know, but at least you’ll get something back when you breed her and sell the foal. I don’t know what to do.” She sighed and looked at Corm and Gwin. “Any ideas?”
“Could you maybe go back to London and do that nursing thing you were so keen on?” Gwin offered.
Bella shook her head. “Much as I would love to do that, there’s no way King’s College will take me back after the row Da caused. No other hospital will take me either. I could get a job in a pub or as a shop girl, I guess? Maybe if I go to Truro, or up to Bristol….”
“I’d miss you so, Bella. Why don’t you go home and try to fix things with your da? He was that upset, so he was, when he thought you’d done a flyer off the cliffs at Lamorna. You really haven’t got a better option,” Sarie urged her.
“I could try Plymouth or Southampton….” Bella began.
“You have no money, Bella! How do you think you’ll get there and where would you stay? I don’t have enough brass to lend you any,” Sarie argued.
“Maybe Gwin could magic me there?” Bella fixed the piskie with a pleading look.
“No, no, no. That I will not, no I will not. I have no wish to draw the attention of the big ones to me. No, no ,no. Not even for you, Mistress Bella.” The little man backed away shaking his head and refusing to meet her gaze.
“Fine then.” She exhaled loudly in exasperation. “How much longer can I stay here?” She looked to Cormoran.
“I’m afraid just till sundown tonight, Mistress. After that you may no longer speak of anything that occurred at the Council meeting. They have put a geas on you, and I have been ordered to no longer protect you after that time. I would defy the order, but it would do neither of us any good in the end.”
“Right, then. I have a few hours of freedom left. Let’s stay here until sunset and then, well, then, I guess I must go home and face the music. At least Da can’t force Daniel on me anymore.” Bella resigned herself. She popped open a stoneware bottle of ale and took a healthy swig. “I might as well be bladdered when I do go home, might deaden the humiliation.”
“Bella,” Sarie scolded her. “Won’t make Barney look any more favourably on you if you show up on his doorstep corned.”
“Don’t care.” Bella tipped the bottle back and swallowed. Wiping her lips with the back of her hand, she passed the bottle to Sarie.
Sarie took a small swig and passed the container to Cormoran. “To your health, Mistress Bella.” He raised the ale in her direction.
Gwin did the same when it was passed to him. “Mistress Bella.”
“Will I be able to come back here and find it as it is now?’ She leaned back against the wall and crossed her legs.
“No, you can return but you will only find the empty chamber that all mortal visitors find. The other worlds will be barred from you.”
“Bother and damn,” she muttered. “I quite like the idea of a hidey hole no one can track me to.”
“You have more things to worry about than that,” Sarie remarked. “What are you going to tell your da about where you’ve been?”
“I don’t have to tell him anything. I’m of legal age now, I don’t answer to him anymore.”
“Certainly, go home with that attitude, Bella. Barney will welcome you with open arms.” Sarie snorted.
“I just can’t help it, Sarie. I know you’re right, but it’s all so unfair.” She began pacing again, pausing to swig from the stoneware bottle as she muttered.
Sarie snagged the bottle from her hand as she passed. “Leave off now, Bella. You’ve only an hour or so before the sun sets. Then we’re out of here and we’ll have to leg it for home. It’s almost seven miles and we’re on foot, so it’ll take a while.”
“God, we’ll be walking all night,” Bella groused. “Unless….” She glanced toward Gwin Scawen.
“Aye, I could magic you a bit of the way, maybe as far as Mousehole or Newlyn,” he offered. “The big ones will not be tracking you right now. Once the sun is down and you leave Carn Euny you will no longer be of any interest to them. As long as you don’t do something foolish….”
Bella opened her mouth to protest and then closed it at the expression on Sarie’s face. “I’ll be careful,” she promised. “I really need to see Vear, though.”
“No, no, no!” Gwin Scawen was aghast. He scarpered over and caught her hand in both of his. “Promise you won’t, on your life, promise. ‘Twill make things go worse for the big selkie, you must not try to contact him. Promise me, Mistress Bella. Promise.”
“Fine, I suppose if it will make things worse for Vear, I’ll not try to see him. But it will kill me, so it will. How will I live without him?”
“Can the drama, Bella. You’ll get on with it, just like every other woman who’s lost their loved ones. Think of all the fisherman’s widows who carry on. Next time you pass the Fisherman’s Memorial in Newlyn harbour have a thought for them, and not your own selfish self.” Sarie fixed her friend with a stern look. “Grow up, for God’s sake and quit whinging.”
“It’s time,” Cormoran interrupted. “My magic is fading and you must go now.” He pointed to the vent in the roof where the sky was now the pale royal blue of late evening. Even as he spoke, the furnishing wavered and winked out of sight. Bella found herself standing in the middle of the empty chamber with Sarie and Gwin Scawen.
“Thank you for all you’ve done,” Bella called.
“It’s welcome you are,” Cormoran’s disembodied voice reached her faintly.
“Well now, shall we go?” Gwin stepped toward the doorway.
“I suppose we must,” Bella agreed. She followed him out of the chamber.
Sarie trailed behind her, stopping for a moment in the opening to take one last look at the round chamber. “Goodbye and thank you, Corm,” she whispered.
“Sarie! Are you coming?” Bella’s voice echoed in the fogue.
“Coming,” she answered.
Bella waited impatiently near the capstone over the entrance. Overhead the sky was pricked with the first stars of evening. A faint glow on the western horizon heralded the departure of the sun. Dusk fell quickly and with it a sharp wind from the sea rippled the gorse and heather.
“Bother and damn, I really don’t relish the thought of going home and eating crow,” she muttered.
“Are we ready?” Gwin Scawen peered up at her.
Bella turned to Sarie and took her hand. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.” She leaned down and kissed the piskie on the cheek.
“Oh now, Mistress Bella. No need for that, oh no.” He blushed and snatched his cap from his tousled hair.
“Will I be able to see you again?” Bella asked. “I’m quite fond of you, you know.”
“Aye, I will come and visit when I can. And to see you too, Mistress Sarie.” He bowed and placed his cap back on his head.
“I would like that, Gwin Scawen. I would like that very much.” Sarie smiled at him and patted his shoulder. “I would be very sad if we couldn’t remain friends.”
“Aye well, it will take both of us to keep this one in line.” He chortled and nodded toward Bella.
She snorted and refused to rise to his teasing. “I suppose if I have to go, we should get this over with.”
“I will travel with you are far as the Penlee Quarry, will that meet with your approval,” Gwin suggested.
“That would be capital. Save us a very long walk,” Sarie agreed.
“The walk through Newlyn will give me time to figure out how to approach Da,” Bella said. “What do you need us to do?”
The piskie came to stand between them and took one of their hands in each of his. “Just hold on to me
and I’ll have you there in a trice.”
Bella held her breath and closed her eyes. The vertigo swept over her and she clenched her teeth. It was over in a moment, once the swirling in her head quieted, she opened her eyes. The lights of the fishing boats in the Newlyn harbour shone on the rising tide. It was full dark now and Bella stumbled while she negotiated the laneway down to the metalled road. “Gwin, could you make a piskie light for us. I don’t want to break an ankle,” Bella complained.
“Hush, Bella,” Sarie chided her. “The little man has done enough, what with saving us a four and half mile walk from Carn Euny to here. It’s only a short way to the village now.”
“I know, I know, you’re right, Sarie. As usual. Thank you, Gwin for all your help. I hope I’ll see you again soon.”
“You are most welcome, Mistress Bella. It has been my pleasure to help you and the big black one.”
“My thanks as well. I will miss you, little brown man. Please know you are welcome in my home anytime,” Sarie said. She knelt and gently hugged the thin piskie.
“I will visit often. It has been my most great honour to become your friend.” The piskie wiped a tear from his wrinkled cheek and blew his nose with a bright red hanky. “But for now you should be going. Keep to the verge and don’t venture down near the sea this night. The mermen will be keeping watch if you should be unwary enough to venture there. They do not forgive or forget, ever.”
“We’ll keep that in mind, thanks for the warning,” Sarie said. “C’mon, Bella. Let’s get a move on.”
She stepped onto the grassy verge and looked up and down the roadway. All was still in the darkness except for the sigh of the wind in the trees overhead. Bella turned to say something to Gwin but he had vanished. Shaking her head, she followed Sarie down the hill toward Newlyn. As they passed the path that would take them down to the sea she glanced outward and caught her breath. Bobbing on the crest of the ninth wave was a row of mermen, thin narrow faces turned toward the shore, long blond hair bright against the dark water. She shuddered, as if the malevolence of their gaze physically touched her raising gooseflesh over her body.
“Let’s hurry,” she whispered to Sarie and nodded toward the water.
“I see them,” she answered. “Don’t look at them and keep walking. Once we’re in Newlyn they will leave us alone.”
“How do you know that?” Bella glanced back at the heads riding the dark water. Against her will her feet carried her to the other side of the roadway, close to the path that would take her down to the strand of beach and rock. Somewhere far away she heard Sarie’s voice, but the spell was too strong. Her foot slipped on a loose stone as just the moment a pod of seals leaped from the water between her and the mermen, barking hoarsely.
“Bella!” Sarie grabbed her arm.
“Oh, Sarie. Thank you. I don’t know what came over me,” Bella gasped and fell into her friend’s embrace.
“Do you never listen to reason, my girl? What part of ‘don’t look at them’ did you not understand?”
“I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t mean to, honest. The next thing I knew it was like I was dreaming and I couldn’t stop myself.”
Sarie dragged her back to the safety of the metalled roadway and hurried her down toward the light of the town that shone below them. Bella scurried along the dark upper streets unwilling to venture near the pubs and businesses near the harbour. She wanted to get home without Da having advance notice of her arrival. She brightened, maybe he’d be down at the Arms and she could get in and prepare her welcome. Sarie bumped into her as Bella stopped dead.
“What am I going to tell Da about where I’ve been for the past fortnight? It’s got to be something he’ll believe….”
“You could warn a body before you stop dead in front of them,” Sarie complained. “As for what to tell Barney, tell him the partial truth. You were hiding out in a cave out by Land’s End and I brought you food and water. It’s almost the truth.”
“He might believe that. I don’t want him to mad at you, though.” Bella frowned. “He might forbid me to have you at the house.”
“You can visit me at home then, if he does that,” Sarie said and started walking again.
Bella followed her past Wherrytown on the west side of the little Larriggan River. The lights of the Beachfield Hotel shone on the rolling water as they gained the pavement of the promenade. They passed the Queen’s Hotel where bright lights shone warmly out of the large dining room windows. Music and gaiety spilled from the Lugger Hotel further down the road and the girls kept to the rail near the water where the shadows were thickest. Bella paused at the bottom of Morrab Road to catch her breath and gather her courage. The hollow smack and suck of the waves hitting the breakwater echoed the beating of her heart and the empty feeling in her stomach.
“Right, then. Let’s get on with it,” Bella said. She straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath.
“That’s the spirit, my girl. No sense procrastinating. Only makes things worse in the end.” Sarie hugged her.
Sooner than she would have liked, Bella stood outside the house that had been her home for as long as she could remember. The front windows were dark and forbidding. She went around the back and crossed the yard, the doors of the boxes in the stable standing empty and open. Light shone from the kitchen window and she hesitated.
“Do you want I should come in with you?” Sarie asked.
“More than anything.” Bella’s laugh was shaky. “But, I should do this on my own. No sense giving him two of us to bark at.”
“Are you sure?” Her friend frowned at her and glanced toward the house. “What if Daniel is in there with him? What will you do then?”
“Tell the skunk to go to hell in a handbasket,” she replied.
“Do you want me to wait out here, in case things go badly?”
Bella shook her head. “No, the time is come to pay the piper. I’ll take whatever punishment Da sees fit to mete out. At least I’m no longer bound to him and I can leave if I want.”
“Take care then, Bella. Ring me when you can. By morning, if not before.” Sarie hugged her and waited in the dark yard until Bella opened the back door and waved to her.
“Aye, who’s there?” Barney’s voice came clearly through the kitchen door.
“It’s me, Da. I’ve come home.” Bella pushed the inner door open and stepped into the familiar room. She bit her lip at the sight of Daniel Treliving sprawled in a kitchen chair, long legs stretched before him and a jar of ale in his hand.
Chapter Fifteen
“So, it’s home you’ve come, daughter? Expecting me to welcome ye with open arms, are ye?” Barney set his jar of ale on the table.
“Hallo, Da. It’s nice to be home,” she lied. Bella skirted the men sitting at the table and set the kettle on the hob. “Have you had supper, or shall I get something going?”
“Sit down, girl,” Barney roared. “Don’t think you can come waltzin’ in here like nothin’s happened. Ye’ve been gone a fortnight, where’ve ye bin and with who?” He slapped the table with his work hardened hand and Bella flinched. “Sit, I said!”
She slid into the empty chair on the far side of the table from Daniel. The man said nothing but smirked at her, glanced pointedly at opening of her shirt and licked his lips. Bella did her best to ignore him and clasped her shaking hands on the surface in front of her.
“Speak, girl! Explain yerself.” Barney rose and towered over her. “Now!”
“Yes, Arabella. Where have you been? I’ve waited patiently for my betrothed to return from wherever it is you flew off to.”
“I’m not your betrothed, or anything else.” She glared at Daniel.
“Mind yer tongue,” Barney growled. “I gave my word and ye’ll honour it.”
The chair clattered backward and fell over. Bella surged to her feet and planted her fists on the table. “I will not honour anything to do with this scrote.” She waved toward the visitor at the table. “I have no
intention of being in the same room as him, let alone marry him.” Her voice rose sharply.
Da gripped her shoulder and righted the chair with the other hand. He shoved her into it and leaned so close his nose almost touched hers. “I am the man of this house, so I am. While ye live under my roof, ye live by my rules. Is that clear?” His hand tightened on her shoulder while the fingers of his free hand caught her chin in a vice-like grip. Tears sprang to her eyes and she swallowed hard. “Is that clear?” he repeated.
“Da, please. You can’t expect me to marry him, he’s mean to me, all the time. I can’t stand the thought of him touching me, please Da.” Tears spilled down her cheeks and blurred her vision.
“Don’t be blubbin’, now girl.” Barney let go of her and collapsed into his chair. “Yer mother tried that on me and it got her nowhere. Same as you. If yer gonna live under my roof, ye’ll do as I say. Includin’ honouring me word to this ‘un here.” He jerked his chin toward Daniel. “Now, ye haven’t answered me question. Where have ye been hidin’? And wi’ who.”
“Yes, Arabella. Who have ye been spreadin’ yer legs fer? Can’t say as I’m not disappointed like … but it’ll save me the trouble of breakin’ ye in.” Daniel stared at her as if she sat in her pelt before him.
Bella’s skin crawled at the expression of naked lust on his face. Dear God in heaven, she should have thrown herself off the cliffs at Lamorna and been done with it. Then Vear wouldn’t be in trouble and she wouldn’t be faced with Treliving forcing himself on her.
“I … I wasn’t with anyone. Anyone, except Sarie. I’ve been hiding out in a cave out by Land’s End. Sarie brought me food and water. There was no one else. No bloke—”
“Liar,” Daniel roared and spat on her. “Ye’ve the look of a bird what’s been pleasured. Ye should’ve hidden the love bites on yer titties iffen ye wanted us to believe that yarn.” He pointed at the exposed flesh where the material of her shirt had slid open.
Bella gasped and pulled the edges closed. The spot where the Council marked her burned and throbbed. How can he see it? Oh dear God, if he has any sort of magic, I’m doomed.