Faerie Path #6: The Charmed Return Page 3

  Anita walked twice around the pond before sitting on one of the benches to wait.

  A middle-aged man in a suit sat at the other end of the bench, eating sandwiches and reading a magazine.

  Where was Connor? He said he’d be here.

  Anita had given herself a target. Get to the park without losing it. She’d held on to that. But deep inside her she could feel a big scream brewing—one that would shatter the sky like thin glass and crack the world open.

  Where was Connor?

  She glanced at the man’s magazine, needing to distract herself.

  It was some kind of science mag. He was reading an article with the headline Longest Solar Eclipse of the Century to Pass over Europe. There was a photo: a ring of white fire with a black heart.

  The opening paragraph of the article had large bold writing that she was able to read.

  August 19. The longest solar eclipse of this century, lasting 6 minutes and 45 seconds in some areas, will plunge cities, including London, into darkness as it passes over Europe this Friday.

  A shadow crossed the sun and she looked up.

  Connor was standing over her.

  His hair was wild, his eyes red-rimmed as if he hadn’t slept for a week. There was a look on his face of pure desperation.

  What had she done to him to make him look at her like that?

  She stood up without speaking. The man with the magazine threw them a quick glance, then went back to his reading. Connor turned and walked away, and Anita walked after him.

  They came to the far side of the bandstand. There were no people nearby. There was a wooden fence, then a row of trees that bordered a long sloping field of grass where dogs ran for sticks and families picnicked while rooks strutted and flapped. Connor turned to her. “What did you do to me?”

  She swallowed, disturbed by the anger in his eyes. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  His voice was shrill, like a valve releasing pent-up steam. “I lost two weeks, Anita. I want to know what happened. I want you to tell me what you and that other girl did to me.”

  “You think two weeks is bad?” she said bitterly. “Try two months, Connor.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ve lost nine weeks, Connor. The last thing I remember, it was June tenth. You’ve got seven weeks on me, so how about you tell me what you know?”

  As she looked steadily into his eyes, his disbelief gave way to a crumbling despair. “Nine weeks?”

  “Yes. Why do you think I did something to you?”

  “The last thing I remember is meeting you and that dark-haired girl at my flat,” Connor said, spitting words like shards of stone. “After that, nothing. Then waking up this morning in the back garden of the house where I live, wearing the same clothes and with two weeks of my life missing.”

  “What dark-haired girl?”

  “You said she was a school friend,” he said. “Her name began with R. It was a strange name like Rachel but not. Ruth? No, a longer name than Ruth.”

  “I don’t know anyone called Ruth or Rachel. What did she look like?”

  “Long black hair. Drop-dead gorgeous. She spoke funny. I can’t remember exactly. Like she was a foreigner.”

  Anita shook her head. “I don’t know anyone like that. Why were we there?”

  “You said you needed me to help you with medical stuff for a project you were working on over the summer.”

  “No, that’s not right.” Then something her mother had told her stabbed into her mind like a poisoned dart. “Was the girl’s name Rathina?”

  Connor’s eyes widened. “Yes! That was it. Rathina. What is that? Spanish or South American or something?”

  “Not according to my mum.”

  Princess Rathina Aurealis, the sixth daughter of Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of Faerie.

  “Your mother knows her?”

  Anita felt the hysteria bubbling to the boil in her head. But this time she was able to keep it under control. “According to Mum, she’s my sister.”

  Connor gaped at her. “You have a sister? Since when? Was she adopted at birth by another family or what?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” She gripped his arm. “What else do you remember from that night when I came to your place with Rathina?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You have to remember more.”

  “No! You’re supposed to be filling in the blanks for me.”

  But it wasn’t the empty spaces that drew Anita’s thoughts; it was another aspect of her mother’s lunatic story. Connor was a med student—he knew about illnesses and cures. “Did we say anything about a plague?”

  Connor gave a choking gasp. “The plague,” he said breathlessly. “Yes. There was something. . . .” His face screwed tight. “People were ill . . . people who shouldn’t be ill. But no, I don’t remember anything else.”

  “Try!”

  He glared at her. “You think I’m not trying? You think I don’t want to know what happened to me?”

  Be careful what you wish for, Connor—you might not be able to handle the results. It was clear he wasn’t going to be able to help her. He had seen her during the lost nine weeks—he had seen her with a dark-haired girl from her mother’s fantasy stories. They had spoken to him about the plague, the sickness that had come to the Immortal Realm of Faerie.

  He was leading her down that same insane road.

  She let go of his arm. “I’m sorry, Connor. I can’t help you. I have to go now.”

  “No. Don’t go. You can’t go.” His voice was desperate. “I have to know what happened. What was that stuff about a sister . . . ? What sister?”

  Anita shook her head, stepping back to put distance between them. “Don’t go there, Connor. You won’t like it. Trust me on this; you’re way better off not being told what I’ve been told.”

  “You can’t leave me like this. I won’t let you!” He lunged forward and grabbed at her. “You stay here! You explain!”

  She hardly knew what happened next. Some kind of fighting instinct took over. She twisted in his grip, loosening his fingers, and jerked her elbow into his midriff. He doubled up with a gasp and dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach.

  “Oh god! I’m sorry!” Where had that come from? She’d never taken any self-defense courses, but she’d put him down like it was the most natural thing in the world.

  She crouched at his side.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Winded is all.” He looked at her. “I have to know what happened to me.”

  She helped him to his feet. “So do I.”

  His eyes were haunted. “I’m so messed up, Anita! Everything is so messed up!”

  “I know.” She looked into his face. “I’m going to find out what happened to us, and when I do—the moment I do—I’ll call you.” She held his gaze. “Trust me, please?”

  “Like I have a choice . . .”

  “And if you remember anything—anything—call me, yes?”

  He nodded.

  “I’m going now.”

  She turned and walked quickly away. Connor called after her. “Anita? Have we both gone crazy?”

  She didn’t look around. She didn’t answer. She began to run.

  Her brain on fire, she ran wildly across the long sloping green field of Ruskin Park.

  Chapter IV

  Anita was leaning over a concrete wall and staring into the gray-brown foamy swirl of the River Thames. It was high tide and the water was as thick as molten metal. She was north of the river again, in a quiet place under Blackfriars Bridge. The great black-iron structure hung above her, making the river noises echo and reverberate. She could hear traffic roaring overhead. A few people were walking to and fro. A young couple passed by her—the girl’s arm draped over the boy’s shoulder, his hand tucked into the back pocket of her jeans—stopping every now and then to kiss as they strolled along the Embankment.

  Aren’t you the lucky ones
?

  Her phone rang. She scooped it out of her pocket.

  It was her mother’s mobile number. Not too hard to guess what had happened. She’d got back home and found Anita missing.

  Anita didn’t answer the call. “Sorry, Mum. No can do right now.”

  She waited till the beeping stopped then opened the screen to send a text. DON’T WORRY. I’M FINE. I’M CHECKING A FEW THINGS OUT. BACK SOON. XXX.

  She sent it to her mother’s phone.

  Without any hope she dialed Evan.

  The number you are calling is not available right now. Please leave your message after the tone.

  “It’s me. I know you’re alive; the woman at the hostel told me so. Call me back, please. Unless this is all a dream, in which case . . . Well, call me anyway.”

  The phone beeped once. A text from her mother. She didn’t read it.

  What I need is someone to snap me out of this.

  Jade was the perfect person to do that. And she’d been planning on going to Jade’s house before the text had come from Connor. She speed-dialed her number.

  The phone purred a few times. One of three things was happening: Jade was screening her calls and didn’t want to talk to her, she was out of earshot of her phone, or her phone was turned off.

  That final choice wasn’t even possible, knowing Jade, and the second one was pretty unlikely.

  There was a soft click, followed by Jade’s voice in full-on scornful mode. “Hey, thanks for the call. Nice of you to get in touch. I’ve missed you soooo much.” Anita felt a rush of affection for the familiar, and oh-so-normal voice—no one did sarcasm as well as Jade Anderson.

  “Jade? I need to see you. It’s really important. Can I come over?”

  “Let me check my diary. Aww, sorry, Tania, it says here I have an appointment this afternoon to totally screw with my best friend. Maybe you should try again later. Way later!”

  “I get that you’re mad at me,” Anita said. “That’s fine. Mad is fine.” And then something truly appalling clicked. “You called me Tania.”

  “Oh, changed the name again, have we? What is it this time? Tallulah? Betty? Harriet Head-case? Madeleine with the emphasis on the mad?”

  “Changed my name . . . ?”

  “Oh, don’t bother explaining. I really don’t want to know what you’ve been doing all summer. Some people with new boyfriends get so obsessed by them that they forget all about their other friends.”

  “Why did I want you to call me Tania?”

  “Don’t ask me, crazy girl. You’ve been way off the chart since before you bailed on me with that trip to Florida. But you know what? I couldn’t care less. Do what you like; this girl officially doesn’t care anymore.”

  “Are you at home? Can I come over?”

  “Yes, I’m home, but there’s no way I want you here. I’m busy. Try again in a lifetime or two.”

  “Please, Jade. I really need you.”

  “Whatever.”

  “I’m coming over. Please stay put.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I’m catching some rays in the garden. Topping up the Florida tan. There’s no one else in, so if you have to drop by, come around the side entrance.”

  Anita began to walk rapidly toward the nearest tube station. “Thanks. Jade? My life is so weird right now. I think I’m going crazy.”

  “Oh, get over yourself!”

  The two patches of grass on either side of the path to the front door of Jade’s house were churned up. That was strange. Jade’s mother was one of those people who spend all their spare time in their gardens, front and back of the house: pruning, deadheading, planting, and weeding. She didn’t have just green thumbs; her arms were green all the way up to the shoulder. Last time Anita had been there, the lawns had been as smooth as a pool table. Now they looked as if a herd of cattle had stampeded across them.

  Anita went to the side of the house. The wooden door was unlatched. She pushed through and walked down the path to the garden. It was a big garden, shielded by tall laurels, the sculpted lawns weaving in among elaborate and colorful flower beds. There was a water feature at the far end, a low wall of white stones over which clear water washed into a small pond. The water rippled as it poured down as smooth as silk, making the wide, pale green lily pads waver and the spiked pink blossoms of the lily flowers bob and weave.

  Jade lay stretched out on a sun lounger alongside the pond, berry brown from Florida, wearing a tiny yellow bikini and sunglasses. Her mobile phone was within hand’s reach. The lounger was angled so the high afternoon sun beat down on her.

  Jade was listening to the radio. Some talk show or other. An overexcited voice was babbling at full speed.

  “Hey, did you realize that there’s not going to be another eclipse like the one that’s coming this Friday until July 2132! That’s over a hundred years, people! You don’t want to miss this one—this is the biggie. . . .”

  Jade didn’t seem to hear Anita approaching her.

  Anita stood looking down at her best friend. She hesitated. One of two things could happen now: Either Jade would be part of the weirdness or she’d say something to make it all go away.

  Anita dreaded one and hoped for the other. The longer she waited before making her presence known, the longer she could hope that Jade would rescue her.

  “Hi there,” Jade said in a slow drawl. “How are things in Freakville?”

  “Hello.”

  Jade slapped her hand down on the radio, silencing the voice. She flicked her sunglasses onto her forehead with one red-nailed finger. She looked at Anita with raised eyebrows.

  “So? What happened?” There was a mocking poutiness in her voice. “The bad Mr. Thomas go home without you, did he? Are you bereft and all alone now, Tania? Need some of your old friends again?”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “Oh, please!” Jade stormed up off the lounger, her arms folded. “It is so like that. Jeez, Tania, I know love can drive you crazy and stuff, but you’re just plain unbelievable!”

  “Is that what you think? That I’ve been off having high jinks with Evan?”

  “I know you were reasonably normal before you hooked up with him and that you’ve been loony-tunes ever since. I know that, Tania.”

  “Can you call me Anita?”

  “I don’t especially want to call you at all.”

  “Don’t be like that. I’m having a bad day, Jade.” Her voice cracked. She felt close to tears. Again. “The worst day ever.” Anita’s legs gave out and she folded up to sit on the lawn.

  Jade peered down at her. “He broke up with you, huh?” She made a sharp tik noise in her mouth. “Typical boy! Create a need then refuse to fill it! You know, I never liked him. Too cute. Too smart. Know what I mean? You’re better off without him.”

  Anita shook her head. “Don’t say that.”

  Jade stared down at her for a few moments, as though weighing up her next move. Angry or forgiving? Then she gave a small crooked smile. “Sorry, it’s in the rules. The best friend trashes the ex. That’s the way these things work.” She sat down at Anita’s side. “Then I take your mind off things. I mean, have I got stuff to tell you!”

  “Jade? There’s stuff I need to tell you first. . . .”

  “Hush! This is therapy. Listen up and forget all about what’s-his-name. I’ve got major news. For a start, did you know we had a bunch of squatters invade our house while we were in Florida? We got home and the front garden was all messed up and ruined. And they’d been in all our rooms. It’s totally disgusting! Someone had actually slept in my bed. Isn’t that foul? I told Mum to burn the sheets. And they messed with my dad’s stuff in the basement. We think they got in through the back door—the glass was all broken and stuff was smashed and wrecked.”

  Odd. Anita had the feeling she knew something about this already. But before she could get a handle on it, Jade went on, unstoppable as a wrecking ball.

  “And then Dan came back early from his adventure holida
y in India. He got mugged first day out there and had all his gear and his money stolen. Mum had told him to take traveler’s checks, but you know my brain-box big brother! He said traveler’s checks aren’t cool. So we had to wire him money for a flight home, and now he’s in residence again like a total pain. And he’s got no money and no job and he spends all his time hanging around and mooching off Mum and Dad and making my life miserable.”

  “Jade—”

  “And then there’s Anthea at my tai chi martial arts class—if she gets to be any more of a pain in my butt, I’m going to add an extra number to the thirty-two sword forms and cut her weaselly little heart out.”

  “Jade! Shut up and listen to me!” Anita shouted.

  Jade blinked at her. “What?”

  “I’ve lost my memory.”

  A pause and then: “You’ve what now?”

  “I don’t remember anything that happened to me over the past nine weeks.”

  A wide grin spread across Jade’s face. “Funny girl. Let me fill you in, then. Uh . . . it went like this. You talked about Evan. All the time. You mooned over Evan. You skipped town with Evan for three days. You didn’t call me. You didn’t explain properly when you got back. You drooled over Evan. You changed your name to please Evan. You totally abandoned me although you were meant to go on holiday with me. You vanished without a word, probably because of Evan. Get the picture?”

  “You think I’m joking?”

  “I think you’re cracking up, that’s for sure.”

  Anita took a deep breath. “I woke up on my bed at half-eleven this morning thinking it was the tenth of June.” She looked into her friend’s bright, cynical eyes. “I’ve lost nine whole weeks of my life, Jade.” She was aware of a hot feeling behind her eyes and then there were tears. “I’m so lost, Jade. I’m all alone, and I can’t get in contact with Evan, and my mum is telling me crazy things, and I just want it all to stop! I want it to stop right now!” She dropped her face into her hands.

  She’d been holding herself together for hours now. It was too much. Now that she’d let go, there was no way for her to stop the crying.

  A moment later Jade was at her side in the grass. “Hey, nothing’s that bad!” Jade’s sun-warmed arms enfolded her, smelling of suntan oil. Anita pressed her face into her friend’s neck, clinging on to her for dear life.