by Maggie Joan
After what seemed like an age, but was probably only a couple of minutes, Dad slumped his shoulders and sighed. “Tell me what the plan is.”
Calico turned his head slightly and gave me a cheeky wink before detailing my dad on the specifics of what was about to happen. After he’d finished, Dad flopped down on the bed, his head bowed, and his back all hunched over.
“I’m so sorry, Faye,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry for everything, for not being the dad you wanted or deserved, for making mountains out of molehills, for making messes that you have to clean up, for driving your brother away...” he took a breath “...you’ve done the best you can do and you’ve been such a brave young woman.” He looked up at me and smiled. “How did I raise such an incredible young lady?”
Seeing the tears glaze over his eyes caused a wave of emotion to rise inside me. I choked back a sob and ran to him, throwing my arms around him. “I love you, Dad.”
He hugged me back so tightly I thought my ribs would break. “I love you too.” He kissed the side of my head and then said, “I couldn’t wish for a better daughter.”
I wanted to stay and hug him for hours, but I had a job to do.
Regretfully, I pulled back and said, “I need to go, Dad. I need to finish this.” I pulled my phone out of my bra and handed it to him. “Can you keep this safe for me please? I've got to go back over there to complete the spell.”
He nodded and took it from me, thankfully not questioning why I'd had it in my bra. “Will I see you again?”
I raised my eyebrows, shocked. “What? Of course. I'm not staying over there, Dad.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you did.” His attention shifted to Calico and then back to me. “Any fool can see he cares for you a great deal.”
A wrecking ball of heat exploded inside me. “Dad, what the...? I’m not having this discussion now.”
He feigned a smile and said, “I’ll see you when I see you then?”
Just as I was about to nod and agree, an idea struck me. “Don’t you want to see Gran’s reaction when she sees Aeden? Why don’t you come with us to see her?”
He glanced at Calico, who nodded. Dad’s eyes filled with joy once more. “That would be the best thing I could ever wish for.” He motioned towards Tristan on the windowsill. “I guess I owe everyone a lifetime of debt for this.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Tristan said. “I love sleep and I've gotten plenty of that.”
Calico chuckled as he picked the glass dome up. “Looking at your waistline, a little too much.”
“It’s not my fault he left me in the sunlight,” Tristan replied, snorting. “Not like I can exercise in here.”
I frowned and said to Tristan, “Sunlight makes you gain weight?”
“It’s like my version of chocolate,” he said, twirling around on the spot. “Best thing ever.”
I giggled at him. I really couldn’t wait to see him at work, flying through the night sky in all his glory. It would definitely be a sight to remember.
We all headed for my car in comfortable silence. As we reached the front door, Calico said to Tristan, “I should warn you, Aeden is back.”
Tristan dropped his ears, scooted back, and tucked his tail between his legs. “No,” he said. “He can’t be.”
Calico nodded. “Unfortunately.”
Tristan’s eyes dulled over with a sad haze.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“What’s wrong?” Tristan said. “He thinks a leaf is a marvel of nature, what do you think he thinks to me?” He whinnied and paced around in circles. “Imagine a three-year-old child slobbering all over its favourite toy, never letting go. That’s Aeden. And I'm the toy.”
I pressed my lips together to stop myself from spluttering into laughter. Poor Tristan. This really wasn’t going to be the best few days of his life.
“Who’s Aeden?” Dad said.
“Calico’s brother. It's a long story,” I replied.
Dad climbed in the back of my car without any protest of wanting to either drive or sit in the front. I wondered if time had stopped and aliens abducted him and replaced him with a clone.
Aeden gushed all over Dad, telling him what a fantastic man he was—until he saw Tristan. Then he screamed like a little girl being given a pony at Christmas. He reached through the gap in the seats, wiggling his fingers in impatience for Tristan.
Calico turned and passed Tristan to him. Tristan, bless him, looked every inch the cowering horse, his front knees actually looked like they were knocking together. I bet he was glad for the lockdown spell now. Aeden clawed at the glass dome, desperate to take it off and squeeze his ‘toy’.
“Aeden,” I said. “There’s a lockdown spell on it.”
He completely ignored me and continued trying to prise the glass off like a child trying to get into Gran’s biscuit tin.
Dad leaned forwards to Calico and said, “That’s your brother?”
Calico nodded. “Yes, he most certainly is.”
Dad looked at Aeden, back at Calico, then settled back in his seat and said, “Sure.”
Chapter 20
Much to Tristan’s disgust, Aeden insisted on bringing him with us when we walked into the woods. The poor horse couldn’t stand up because the uneven ground made Aeden unbalanced and therefore kept knocking Tristan off his feet. When he decided to lay down, he ended up sliding all over the wooden base instead and bumping either his head or his hindquarters against the glass.
If a horse could scowl, Tristan had the expression down to a fine art. His ears were pinned flat back against his head, his soft brown eyes were now hard and glazed over with fury, and every time part of him hit the glass, he’d kick out with his back legs in annoyance.
I had to stop looking at him to curb my laughter. I knew for a fact once he was freed, he’d be after Aeden like a wasp with a point to prove.
Aeden led us straight to the spot where my gran had first met him with her sisters all those years ago. He stopped us near a small clump of blue flowers, flanked by a small bush, and let out a long sigh.
“Who knew that such a thing as a blue flower could cause the ripple of effects that has befallen upon us?” he said.
I stared at the ground, constantly repeating to myself must not laugh, must not laugh. My dad stood to my right, his arms folded over his chest and his eyes sparkling with amusement. Calico stood to my left, a deep frown creasing his forehead and tapping his right foot impatiently.
Aeden spun around and faced us, his happy features now fallen into a dark shadow. “I can almost feel the lines of time, the sands of all that is around us. It is ready, ready to change, for the butterfly to flap its wings and cause another ripple, a ripple that will overtake the last and replace all.”
He stared at us with such intensity, I wondered if we were supposed to say something. Just as I opened my mouth to say something, he whipped back around, let out a shriek of joy, and lifted Tristan high up into the air with such ferocity, the poor creature actually floated in mid-air for a few seconds.
I turned around and let out a splutter of laughter. I couldn’t hold it in anymore, it was too much. The more I tried to stop, the more it wanted to come out. My stomach ached from trying to hold it in.
“Ok,” said Calico. “I think you need to give Tristan back to me.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Calico striding towards his brother, arms outstretched for the glass dome.
Aeden snatched the dome back from the air and hugged it to his side. “No.”
Calico sighed. “Aeden, give me the horse.”
“He’s mine,” Aeden said.
I looked back in front of me to see a rather sturdy tree a few feet ahead. I went to it and hid the other side so I could laugh to myself. However, hearing the two brothers go back and forth like a pair of toddlers arguing over a toy didn’t help my case.
At the point where my sides hurt, I took a deep breath and calmed myself to an acceptable degree, a
t least what I thought acceptable anyway. I made my way back over to them, bemused somewhat by Calico stood in front of his brother with his arms folded and a thunderous look on his handsome face, and Aeden smiling back at him with Tristan still tucked under his arm.
“Aeden,” I said, saying it slowly so my voice didn’t shake from trying not to laugh. “If we’re going to pick the flowers then we need to give it our full attention. Don’t you agree?”
He glanced over at me and nodded. “Of course.” He thrust Tristan out towards me and said, “Here.”
Calico's jaw dropped and he turned and stared at me like I'd just grown three heads. I couldn’t look back at him because I'd double over with laughter for sure.
“Maybe you should give him to your brother?” I said, closing the gap between me and Aeden. “Because I need both hands too.”
Aeden nodded. “Good point.” He held Tristan out towards Calico and sweetly said, “Here you go.”
A chuckle came from behind me which I guessed was Dad’s version of trying not to laugh. Calico snatched the dome away from his brother, which unfortunately meant Tristan got another head bang against the glass.
“Hey!” he yelled. “I am a living creature in here you know!”
Calico muttered something under his breath and stomped over to my dad. This would definitely be something I would never forget. Moments like this made me glad that my family line would be the exception to the rule with the fairy dust.
Aeden took my hand and led me over to the blue flowers. We sat down cross legged in front of them and started carefully moving the soil away from their base. Isidora had instructed us to get as much of the roots as possible so just wrenching them from the ground wasn’t an option.
“I remember the first time I saw your gran,” Aeden said, his voice now low and quiet. “Out of all three sisters, she was my favourite. Such a bubbly personality and her smile, so infectious.” He shook his head and sighed. “It’s sad, what time does to the body, but it never alters the soul. Your gran—” he took my hand and squeezed it “—had a pure soul, just like you.”
My heart jumped a little and tears came to my eyes. “Thank you. That's such a kind thing to say.”
“Just between you and me, I encouraged her to take the pictures. I wanted her to have something to look at every time she thought of me.”
“That’s so sweet,” I said. “Did you ever tell her that?”
“No. I kind of wish now that I had done though. Not telling someone how you feel about them is denying yourself and them of freedom. But she was just a young girl, she didn’t need complicated feelings like that in her life.”
His words struck a chord with me. He was right. Not telling someone how you felt didn’t do anyone any good. If Calico hadn’t been psychic, he still wouldn’t know that I liked him because there was no way I would have told him, but because he did know, a whole world of possibilities had opened up before me. That made me think about Macie and her crush on her Ben. She lived in hope that he liked her too but without knowing for sure, that hope would keep her on a cliff edge, unable to move forwards.
“I’m glad we found you, Aeden. I think seeing you again will make Gran a very happy lady before she dies.”
“What happened to Flora and Elsie?”
“They both died a few years ago. Elsie of cancer and Flora had a heart attack.”
“That’s so sad,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s ok, it’s life at the end of the day. You can’t have all the beauty without all the tragedy, right?”
He chuckled and patted my hand. “Careful, you’re beginning to sound like me.”
I grinned at him and focused back on the flowers. We worked in silence for the next few minutes. When we’d dug up six flowers each, roots all fully intact, we stood up and looked at the small holes we’d left in the ground.
“It’s almost like we’re eradicating the fact it ever happened,” he said, sighing. “But it’s all for the better. For the greater good.”
I nodded. “You have the memories though, just remember that. You experienced something unique.”
He flung his arms around me and squeezed all the breath from my body as he hugged me. “You’re beautiful, Faye. I hope we stay in touch.”
“Air,” I gasped.
He let me go and chuckled.
I gasped for air and stretched out the creases in my muscles. “A little warning might have been nice.”
“Sorry,” he said, grinning. “Duly noted.”
We headed back to Calico and my dad. Aeden immediately homed in on Tristan, who had now dared to stand back up.
“You dare,” Tristan said, snapping his teeth.
Aeden widened his eyes but never said a word. Tristan eyed him with suspicion as he walked past him but seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when he realised he was safe.
“All sorted?” Dad asked.
I nodded. “Now we just need to visit Gran.”
“With these two, in daylight?”
“The deal is to give Gran her peace before we return with the flowers.”
He put his hand on my arm and gave me a soft smile. “I think your gran would appreciate seeing Aeden in his fairy form, not like this. She doesn’t know him like this, she knows him as a fairy.”
I glanced over at Calico. “What can we do?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Until we return to the fairy realm, we’re human sized.”
“So come back, later tonight,” Dad said. “Evenings are easier for her, it seems to soothe her delirium for some reason. The main thing is that you get that dust sorted.”
I frowned. What was going on here with Dad? Why the sudden change in attitude? “Dad?”
“It’s fine, Faye. That dust is the key. Once people are administered it, they’ll never know anything of your gran. That’s the priority—making sure she doesn’t pass on being known as a liar.”
“If you’re sure?”
He nodded. “I am. You go. I’ll walk back to the house. You go home and back with them to do whatever you need to do.”
“Thank you, Dad.” Driven purely by emotion, I put my arms around him and hugged him. To my surprise, he hugged me back.
“Now go and finish clearing up my mess,” he said, pulling back and grinning at me. “Then we can discuss a thank you when you come home.” He gave me a conspiratorial wink.
If it wasn’t for the urgent task at hand, I would have run through a million options in my mind of what he might be thinking of but I had no time to worry about that kind of thing now.
“Time is of the essence,” Aeden said. “We must return before the flowers start to wilt and die. I can already feel them starting to wane.”
“See you soon, Dad.”
He kissed my cheek and said, “I’ll be with Gran tonight. I’ll see you later.”
We left Dad, the three of us walking back to my car in a comfortable silence. I presumed Aeden was sulking about Tristan. I began to wonder how things would work out in the future, how often I’d get to visit the fairies, if they could ever come here regularly, and more importantly, what was I going to say to Calico about our kiss?
A warm, strong hand touched mine, making my heart skip a beat. I glanced to my right to see Calico still staring straight ahead at the car, but a small smile tweaking at his lips. He interlaced his fingers with mine and gave me a reassuring squeeze.
In that moment, I knew everything would be just perfect.
Chapter 21
Calico had a small pink coin which Isidora had given him before we left. It would be our portal straight back to the Queens Court. I needed to take my car home first though and we needed the privacy of the woods still to be able to walk through the portal in the first place. If anyone happened to see the three of us walking into thin air, it would surely raise some eyebrows, let alone questions.
Once my car was safely tucked back into the garage, we made our way back to the oak tree in the woods. Calico pulled the cent size
d coin from his pocket and snapped it in half. He placed each half on the ground, around ten feet apart. The instant his fingers left the second half, a rainbow appeared between the two, each end coming from the halves of the coin. The mirage of colours sparkled for several seconds before they faded away and left behind a perfect vision of the Queens Court, the horses, my dogs, and the Queens all huddled together, talking, Isidora in the centre of them.
Calico took my hand in his and smiled at me. “Ready for round two?”
My cheeks flamed with heat as I replied, “I think I’d be ready for anything with you.”
He raised his eyebrows as a beaming grin spread across his handsome face. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.” He lifted my hand to his lips and brushed a gentle kiss across the back of it.
I shivered from the feather light touch and tried to calm my raging cheeks.
“The bloom of love born from the bosom of tragedy,” Aeden said. “No one could wish for anything more.”
Calico rolled his eyes. I giggled. Before our poetic accomplice could impart anymore wisdom on us, we stepped through and back to the Queens Court.
“You’re back!” Amode said, rushing towards us.
Isidora hurried over to us, her hands outstretched for the flowers. I handed mine over gladly. Aeden, however, seemed to want to keep a hold of his.
“Aeden,” Isidora said, her voice curt. “Give me the flowers.”
I dropped Calico’s hand and turned to Aeden. I put both of my hands on his arm and said, “Giving the flowers up won’t make you forget. You’ll still have the memories.”
His eyes swimming with water, he looked down at me and said, “But I want something physical to keep.”
I thought about his words for a moment. I turned to Isidora and said, “Can I have a word?”
“I really need to mix this dust ready for this evening.”
“It’ll take a minute, I promise.”
She dropped her hand and motioned for me to follow her. We moved away from everyone and headed towards the other side of the room.